‘I know what it is to be hungry.’ Why a Bradenton icon gives back every Thanksgiving
Ray Bellamy beamed as deputies, police officers and others lined up to bring 400 boxes full of the makings of Thanksgiving dinner to the curb at Lincoln Memorial Middle School on Tuesday.
The meals were for families who might otherwise have gone without.
Bellamy, 73, is the coordinator of the drive that he started five years ago in honor of his brother, Sylvester Bellamy, one of the first Black deputies in Manatee County.
“I know what it is to be hungry. I know what it’s like to be poor,” Bellamy said.
He was one of nine children in a migrant worker family. Sometimes the children went to school without lunch or shoes on their feet.
Bellamy went on to become a three-sport star athlete for Lincoln Memorial High School in Palmetto in the 1960s. He then enrolled at the University of Miami, becoming the Hurricane’s first Black football player.
He also became captain of the football team, president of the student body and president of the Florida State Student Council.
Bellamy never forgot that his path to success was paved by people like civil rights activist and humanitarian Ed Dick and Steve Lewis, a World War II veteran who was one of the last Buffalo Soldiers. Lewis, who later taught school in the Palmetto area for more than 30 years, was Bellamy’s first male teacher. Both Dick and Lewis died in 2021.
Bellamy asked that their biographies be read aloud prior to this week’s distribution. He also had Chesterfield Smith’s bio read. Smith served in the Florida Attorney General’s Office for more than 30 years.
“This community has been great to me,” Bellamy said this week. “All these men were visionaries.”
Bellamy also remembered that before attending the University if Miami, a Bradenton businessman made sure he had clothing to wear to school.
“We want to let people know that we appreciate them —all the people that chipped in to help,” Bellamy said.
Five years ago, the distribution started with about 100 baskets, and it continues to increase in size, Sheriff Rick Wells said.
“We are trying to make Thanksgiving good for someone, and this event is all Ray,” Wells said.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 3:52 PM.
