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GREAT FAMILY GATHERING
21
YEARS
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26,000
FAMILIES
107,000
MEALS
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1
MISSION
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GREAT FAMILY GATHERING
The Great Family Gathering is an event for the whole family. This event was birthed from the vision of W. Lonnie Herndon, Sr. Pastor of The Church of Christian Compassion. Pastor Herndon’s vision was to provide a lovely compassionate atmosphere similar to that of a 5 star restaurant, where those who attend may be able to come and enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving dinner served to them by officials, community and corporate leaders with elegance and style.
The Great Family Gathering began in 2003. Annually, this event was held at 3801 Market Street in the Grand ballroom. Those who were less fortunate entered an atmosphere that was festive and filled with love and compassion. It started out with singing as they walked in the door and were ushered to their seats to prepare for a fabulous celebration and home cooked Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. Trolley Works helped to make this special by going to all of the shelters in Philadelphia and driving those residents to the event and taking them back home. This was an annual event until 2020 when the pandemic hit and cancelled all in-person events. The Community of Compassion CDC had to pivot because we wanted to still provide a Thanksgiving meal to all those who lived in shelters and on the streets of Philadelphia. We made the decision to deliver the meals. In 2023, Drexel University partnered with us and allowed us to use their industrial kitchen to cook and prepare over 7,000 meals to deliver to every shelter in Philadelphia and to those living on the streets of Philadelphia.
This is a massive undertaking, any help and donations helps us to provide the food and meals to those in need.
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