The tables had beautiful floral centerpieces on them and were covered in red tablecloth. There were name cards strategically placed on the tables for the guests of the hour when they arrived. The holiday season schedule is traditionally packed with parties and get-togethers for many of us, but for many seniors within our community, there aren’t always opportunities to get together.
The Atlanta Hawks, national insurance provider State Farm, and Meals on Wheels Atlanta (MOWA) did something about that Wednesday, December 6, collaborating on the first ever ‘Brucnh, Beats & Bingo’, an event that allowed local seniors to have fun during the holiday season, while also being given groceries.
Food insecurity is one of the issues that all three organizations attempt to battle year-round, State Farm Corporate Responsibility Manager Tonya James said. “This is just another example of how we can work together and impact our community. It’s an opportunity for us to provide nourishment, a sense of community, and connection to our seniors.”
The brunch menu included beef ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pies for dessert.
Before ‘Brunch, Beats & Bingo’ began a dozen volunteers helped pack bags full of breakfast foods and drinks for the seniors to take home later that afternoon. The bags contained juice, milk, cereal, granola bars, oatmeal, and fruit. All of the items come courtesy of the Hawks and State Farms Good Neighbor Food Pantry.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Atlanta Hawks Vice President of Basketball Development Jon Babul was on hand and said these events are a way for the franchise to build a sense of community outside of the basketball games and camps they host.
“This is the power of our community partnerships and the ability to come together and fight food insecurity,” Babul said as he looked around the room as it filled with people, including DJ Jazzy T, who has worked with MOWA for the past two years as the organization’s defacto DJ, played holiday classics throughout the event. “The ability to collaborate and bring some stars together for the holidays is always a good thing too,” he said.
The event took place downtown inside the Meals on Wheels Atlanta headquarters and the entertainment for the day along with DJ Jazzy T was a three-song performance by Que Parker of 112 fame. He sang a number of holiday classics.
More than two dozen seniors were invited to take part in a brunch, including Reverend Ronald Brown, Sr. A transplant from Maryland six years ago, Brown moved to Atlanta and immediately joined the congregation at New Bethel Baptist Church. He said he decided to bring along two members of his church family to the brunch because “I always like to have some of my fellow seniors participate in events,” Brown said.
Meals on Wheels CEO Charlene Crusoe-Ingram greeted the seniors, who were surprised with cheers from a pair of Atlanta Hawks cheer squad members. Some of the seniors made their way to the tables with canes, walkers, and walking sticks, but all were driven to the MOWA headquarters in a chartered van.
“We have to feed our seniors and we can’t do that without the help of all of these partnerships,” Crusoe-Ingram told The Atlanta Voice. “Having this connection with two of our key partners, State Farm and the Atlanta Hawks, it all works when you can do that together.”
Asked if there is going to be another Bingo, Beats & Brunch in the future, Babul said he didn’t see why not. “This is going to be a huge success. We can’t fail. It’s the holidays.”
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