For more than three decades, the KCTR Cat Country 102.9 Breakfast Flakes have been helping families at Thanksgiving.
This year, the 32nd annual Flakesging had COVID adjustments, which included making the dinner giveaway a drive-through.
"Seven 7 to 10 people," Breakfast Flake Mark Wilson said about the the dinners. The turkeys are averaging about 15 pounds, 10 pounds of potatoes, corn, black olives, two boxes mac and cheese, gravy mix, stuffing, dinner rolls. And I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something."
The Breakfast Flakes and dedicated volunteers passed out Thanksgiving dinner for Flakesgiving at MetraPark's lower parking lot.
"You should be able to stay home with your family for Thanksgiving meal," Wilson said. "There's organizations that put them on in town. But some people don't feel right about going to that or don't like to take charity from anyone. Here, you come to this, you pick up your meal. Nobody knows your name, and you can stay at home with your family."
In a normal year, people would be standing in line at the fairgrounds.
This year, two lines of cars went through the parking lot.
"Just open their trunks, and we'll set the box in the trunk, close the trunk," Wilson said. "There's no contact. And then they can be on their way. We're asking people that are doing the deliveries to wear their masks and their gloves."
Wilson and Paul Mushaben, the Breakfast Flakes, have been celebrating Flakesgiving for 32 years.
"It wasn't complete meals in '89," Wilson said. "We just raised money for turkeys. We gave out 52 turkeys. And then the next year we decided a meal would be better. We started with I think 600 complete meals and about five or six employees at the radio station, doing all the work."
Wilson said in 1989, he did not envision it growing to 1,500 meals.
"Had no idea," Wilson said. "Well, I work in radio. I didn't think I'd be working in a radio job 33 years. So you do what you can, while you can."
The numbers are the same as in a normal year with volunteers delivering 500 meals and families picking up 1,000 at MetraPark.
"You're trying to be all business and you're trying to you know move people people through quickly," Wilson said. "But just when you think you're doing good, some sweet old lady will grab your neck and give you a hug and say thank you and everybody cries a little bit. Everybody cries once or twice on Saturday when we're giving food away. That just reinforces the good feeling you get because you're doing a good thing."
The Flakesgiving traffic backed up from the lower parking lot, to the fairgrounds and out onto Main Street.
