The 27th Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner will welcome more than 1,300 diners for a free meal this month. Hosted at Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, in partnership with St. Andrew By-the-Sea United Methodist Church, the free community event serves a delicious turkey dinner with dressing, plenty of sides, cold drinks, and of course, everyone’s favorite, dessert.
The meal takes place Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Brian, Millie, Andrew, and Alice Carmines volunteer together in 2024.
Started in 1999, the shared dinner is always a well-run event, but this year, a 9:30 a.m. king tide is keeping organizers on their toes and in their waterproof boots. “It brings on another layer of conversation and thinking through our options,” said Lesley Kyle, chair of the event. “With any event, we can’t control everything. We have to shift our layout a bit and there will be some game-day decisions that we need to make.”
Community Thanksgiving was organized after a 1998 story in the Island Packet about single people not having a place to go for a Thanksgiving meal. Afterwards, Hudson’s and St. Andrew’s combined forces to plan an inclusive community meal the following year. Hudson’s role is to host the event and handle all the food preparation logistics, while folks at St. Andrew recruit for leadership roles, contribute funds and create partnerships to cover the food costs, promote the event, and organize volunteer registration. The combined efforts lead to a successful day of dining, gratitude, and community support.
Andrew Carmines, owner of Hudson’s, was home from college during the inaugural event. “I was just helping put out fires because they didn’t know how many people to expect and went through more food than they thought,” he said. “We were scrambling in the back of the kitchen so I ran to the grocery store and bought all the stuffing they had.”
Even though food was in short supply that year, Carmines said that spirits were high. “I saw how much fun everybody was having volunteering and saw the effect on the people that were dining,” he said. “It just became ingrained in me.”
During Community Thanksgiving’s first 25 years, Gloria and Allan LaCoe led the organizational effort until their retirement in 2024. The LaCoes continued volunteering as table hosts in 2025 as Kyle took the reins for the event. “I was blessed to be given the opportunity to take on the role as chair,” she said. “I work with a very talented, experienced, generous, and fun team of folks who make the event the success that it is.”
Golf cart transport is available for diners from the parking lot.
Kyle’s career experience and attention to detail make her a great choice for the involved role. “I’m a meeting geek,” she said. “I’ve been a professional event organizer for 25 years. Organization is my jam.”
Kyle moved to Hilton Head Island in the fall of 2022 with few personal connections. “I did not know a soul, except for my Realtor,” she said. “I started thinking about Thanksgiving and heard about the dinner. Knowing that the foundation for the original concept was to give single folks who were alone on Thanksgiving Day a place to go, I decided I wanted to try it.”
For Carmines, the day is about supporting the community with family and his team. His wife and their three children volunteer each year across various roles inside the restaurant. “That is a real full circle moment for me and they’re all super helpful,” he said.
Carmines also loves that the Hudson’s staff is so involved with the event too. “The thing that always makes me super happy is we always have 20 to 24 people from our team that come and volunteer their time for a few hours on Thanksgiving Day. Even though I don’t ask them to do it, and even though they are not getting paid, it’s just a really nice feeling that they want to be here and want to contribute. It’s a nice way for them to visit with their work family on Thanksgiving Day.”
Ben Vaught, Jevon Daly and Andy Pitts play for the Hudson’s crowd at the 2025 Thanksgiving Dinner event.
Kyle also enjoys the community’s joyous spirit on Thanksgiving Day. “It always strikes me that everybody’s happy, friendly, supportive, and team oriented,” she said. “Thanksgiving is a day when we count blessings, including the delicious food that’s prepared by the Hudson’s team.”
Craig and Irene McCall enjoy volunteering as pie cutters each year.
There is no charge to attend the dinner but contributions are welcomed. All donations are divided among three local organizations: Second Helpings, Bluffton Self Help, and Deep Well, each working to combat food insecurity in Beaufort County.
Over 400 volunteers make the annual meal a success.
Financial donations will go even farther in 2026. “We are blessed this year by a generous dollar for dollar contribution match up to $20,000 from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous,” Kyle said. “We typically raise $15,000 that goes back into the community. This year, we hope to raise $30,000 with 100% of the funds going right back into the community.”
Erin, Andrew, and Oak volunteer in the kitchen at last year’s event.
With more than 400 volunteers, local businesses donating goods and services, church partnerships, and 1,300 diners, it’s a huge community effort. Food leftovers are distributed by Second Helpings to several of their partner agencies and the St. Andrew Soup Kitchen, which serves a hot Thanksgiving lunch the day after the event. Providence Presbyterian, First Presbyterian, and Hilton Head Community Church are also committed event sponsors.
For more about volunteering, donating, or attending the event, visit communitythanksgiving.com.
Gloria and Allan LaCoe are big supporters of the event since its start in 1999.