South Memphis Thanksgiving

Volunteers and neighbors laughing on a pink riding mower at the We Fight Monsters Thanksgiving in South Memphis

We Fight Monsters · South Memphis

Thanksgiving in the hood.

Every year we bring the whole block together on the same South Memphis streets where we used to be homeless and strung out. Hot food, warm coats, and a seat for everybody. Help us do it bigger this year.

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2,500 lbsOf frozen turkeys handed out in a single year
1,000Plates served on a big year
Every yearSame streets, same block, same promise
$0What it costs anybody who walks up

What it is

We take Thanksgiving back to the block.

We set up in a parking lot at an intersection in South Memphis and feed everybody who shows up. Hot plates, hot coffee, and live music.

We hand out coats, new shoes, and clothes. Service providers set up booths with free HIV and Hepatitis testing, Narcan, and Narcan training.

A lot of the cooking, serving, and sorting is done by people in recovery, people we pulled off these same streets, and the families who walk with us.

Everybody eats

Judges and dope dealers. Same line.

Cops and judges serve food right next to dope dealers and convicted murderers. Trafficking survivors, veterans, bikers, gangbangers, court staff, and families from the block all eat together.

Nobody fights. Everybody just gets along.

Volunteers in gloves serving plates down a long line of tables
Neighbors moving down the serving line under white tents
Volunteers and kids serving desserts and sides
A gloved hand passing a napkin to a neighbor
Ben Owen, Cresia, and Jess Owen together in South Memphis

Who's cooking

Cresia used to sell dope to me and Jess. I stole dope from her once. Now she's making the greens.

Cresia sold to both of us through the window of a dope house we now own and shut down. She went through drug court, got clean, and today she lives in one of our Hope Houses.

The Thanksgiving before she started cooking for this, she was sitting behind bars. Now she feeds her neighborhood.

That's who's behind these tables. People who know exactly what it's like to stand on the other side of them.

Ben Owen · Co-founder, We Fight Monsters

It takes a lot of hands

Kids, grandmas, and everybody in between.

Our families work the line right next to the neighborhood. Kids hand out rolls. Grandmas run the tongs. Somebody always has to haul the sodas.

A grandmother and two kids serving rolls and casserole
Jessica Owen smiling with a young girl wearing face stickers
A young boy in gloves serving food
A volunteer with purple hair hands a hot plate across the table
A teenager loading sodas into coolers

Where your money goes

We need to do it better.

This day runs on donations. Your gift goes straight into the event and the people who show up for it.

01

Turkeys and sides

Turkeys, greens, dressing, mac and cheese, rolls, desserts, and enough plates to feed the whole block.

02

Coats, shoes, and clothes

Warm coats and new shoes going into winter, and clothes for whole families.

03

Tents, tables, and fuel

Tents, tables, chafing fuel, coolers, and everything else it takes to run a kitchen in a parking lot.

Give

Put a plate on the table.

Pick an amount. Give once, or give monthly so we can plan ahead and keep showing up for this community all year.

Want a different amount? Choose from more options.

We Fight Monsters, Ltd. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 88-4333457. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Monthly gifts can be cancelled anytime from your account.

Nobody's coming.
It's up to us.

We got our second chance on these same streets. Now we're paying it forward, one plate at a time.

Give now