This year’s Great Family Gathering fed over 6,000 people — and the need continues to grow

For Lavanda “Miss Bonnie” Earl, the Monday before Thanksgiving is her D-Day. It is when she launches her annual assault against hunger.

Called the Great Family Gathering, the operation requires almost a year of planning, during which Earl stockpiles her weapons. This year it was 400 turkeys; 200 restaurant-size cans each of yams, collard greens, and string beans; 300 boxes of stuffing; 250 pounds of rice; and lots and lots of dinner rolls. She topped it all off with 400 sweet potato pies for dessert.

Many of the 200 to 300 people in her all-volunteer army are members of the Church of Christian Compassion in Southwest Philadelphia, where Earl worships too. Earl demands that volunteers are mission-trained — as drivers, cooking helpers, and packers — so they are clear of their duties. She has no time for chaos once everyone hits the staging area in MacAlister Hall at Drexel University.

And equally clear are her marching orders, which Earl said come directly from Jesus: “Feed my sheep.”

In other words, Earl explained, it is a Christian’s obligation to care for the dispossessed. “When you see a sister or brother in a difficult time, it is our duty as Christians to care for them.”

Turning that mandate into action is a mammoth undertaking. Earl has been running the Great Family Gathering since its earliest days in 2002. It has served over 80,000 meals since its inception.

In the beginning, the Gathering was a dinner for up to 500 shelter residents held at the former First District Plaza Ballroom at 38th and Market Streets. The church would provide transportation and offer not only food but a night of entertainment. COVID-19 ended this event, and what sprung up was an operation that delivers.

This year, Earl said that would mean cooking, packing, and delivering over 6,000 platters to nearly 70 shelters as well as handing out food at three on-the-street locations — one in Kensington and two in West Philadelphia — for those who are homeless.

The numbers they serve each year have escalated since the pandemic — an indication, from Earl’s perspective, that the economic hardships of COVID-19 have not ended for many. Earl often hears of people losing jobs, of seniors making hard decisions between paying for medicine and paying for food, and of shelters overflowing with residents, many of whom are children. The number of homeless Philadelphians increased for the third consecutive year in 2024, according to the annual point-in-time homelessness count conducted by the Office of Homeless Services (OHS).

» READ MORE: Homelessness in Philadelphia increases for third consecutive year

Growing up in West Philadelphia, Earl and her sister Sabrina Adams, who is the Great Family Gathering’s head cook, watched their mother, Thelma Blanchard, practice radical hospitality daily by feeding home-cooked meals to friends, neighbors, fellow church members, and strangers. “We were always in church, and we were taught not to be selfish,” Earl recalled.

One time, Blanchard invited a man and his young son from church to their home for a meal. Hungry and without a permanent place to live, the man and his son benefited from Blanchard’s cooking — “Everything was her specialty,” Earl said — as well as from housing she provided.

Before leaving Philadelphia, the man had come into some money and handed Blanchard the keys to a restaurant he had purchased for her. Blanchard’s Chicken Diner was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for years at 17th and South Streets.

”Cooking is not new to me,” said Adams, who used to help her mom prep for customers.

Earl was at MacAlister Hall by daybreak on Monday. “We will feed until all resources are gone,” she said.

Feeding the masses and providing 1,500 gift bags costs an estimated $30,000 to $40,000, most of which is donated by organizations as such Keystone First, which has been a sponsor since the beginning; Brown’s ShopRite, which contributed all the stuffing and pies; and Amoroso’s Bakery, which donated the rolls. Earl also opens a GoFundMe account each year for donations. This year she raised $3,885 of the requested $30,000, but the Church of Christian Compassion will guarantee any shortfalls.

Now, Earl will take a short break, enjoy her own Thanksgiving dinner, and start thinking about next year. She has plenty of thank-you notes to send to sponsors and volunteers, but she also wants to get a jumpstart on securing commitments for next year’s D-Day.