‘I’m grateful.’ Annual turkey giveaway is much more than dinner
Just because former University of Miami and Lincoln Memorial High School football legend Ray Bellamy doesn’t live in Palmetto anymore, doesn’t mean it isn’t home.
Bellamy, the first black player to be recruited by UM in 1967 — and who went on to become student body president — comes home annually for a special event in partnership with the family of Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells.
“I know what it is to be hungry,” Bellamy said Tuesday during the annual turkey giveaway that included all the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner. “I know what it is to be poor. I know what it is to not have.”
Bellamy didn’t just grow up poor. He grew up with nine siblings and illiterate parents whose combined income was less than $10,000 a year. But he also grew up in a community that looked after one another.
“And I never forgot that,” Bellamy said. “This community looked after me so when I had an opportunity to do what I did in life, I appreciate the opportunity to give back. So, I made the decision years ago that if I ever got in a position where I could help, that I was going to give back.”
About 200 boxes of Thanksgiving meals were handed out at Lincoln Tuesday morning, but it’s not just about food, it’s about the spirit of a Thanksgiving dinner that is warmed by the presence of family, friends and community.
“I’m grateful,” said Mary Foster-Lang. “I personally didn’t have a turkey this year and honestly, I didn’t know who was sponsoring this before I got here this morning, which actually is nice to know the authorities are actively involved in giving and having a heart, especially this time of year.”
That’s an important message for Wells and his agency.
“We’re always about building relationships,” Wells said. “This is important to us because we want the community to know who we are and are actually involved in outreach, not just during the holidays. This gives the deputies an opportunity to get their hands dirty in giving these turkeys out and build relationships.”
Like any charitable event, Bellamy said he recognizes some of what is distributed will be given to those who don’t necessarily need it, “But that’s on them. I do this because it’s the right thing to do and it comes from my heart. When I do it, I can see the glee in their eye.
Bellamy also does home deliveries and recently went to the home of an elderly woman on oxygen to deliver a basket.
“I walked into her home and she was crying,” he said. “She said she didn’t think anyone would do that for her. I try to put it in the right place and it’s all about people. It has never been about me. Someone once asked me how many turkeys I’ve given out. Who’s counting? It’s been about trying to get food to people that are less fortunate than we are.”