Spreading the Thanksgiving Love

If it’s November, it’s once again time for the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors’ Thanksgiving Side Dish Food Drive that benefits the St. Matthew’s House homeless shelter and food bank for the economically disadvantaged.

This is the 24th year for the community wide effort. As always, donations of pre-cooked and reheatable side dishes such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, baked yams, mashed and baked sweet potatoes, vegetables and other Thanksgiving favorites, as well as boxed up pies, are requested. Disposable aluminum covered trays for the dishes are available at the Association of Realtors office or they can be dropped at your home by calling Bill Filbin, a realtor for Remax Affinity Plus on Marco. 

MIAAOR is also collecting canned food and nonperishable items for the food pantry at St. Matthew’s House, which has seen increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Donors can drop off their food laden trays at the association’s offices on Thanksgiving morning, November 25, 2021. The dishes are then transported to St. Matthew’s House’s Airport-Pulling Road campus by Filbin, who founded and still spearheads the drive. He delivered a record 78 trays in 2019, a total he expects to eclipse this year.

He is quick to deflect any credit for his involvement in the food drive. “It’s the people of Marco, the residents, snowbirds, vacationers and merchants,” he said. 

The effort’s beginnings lie in a question Filbin posed to a former St. Matthew’s House’s head chef about how he could assist with the annual Thanksgiving Day dinner. 

“He said, ‘Side-dishes - we don’t have enough room for side dishes,’” recalled Filbin. “’Our ovens are just big enough for turkeys and chickens and hams. If you want to help, get me some side dishes so that we don’t tie up our ovens.’ I started with two or three friends. Then I got the real estate company a little involved. And now it’s anyone on the island.”

Steve Brooder, chief operating officer for St. Matthew’s House, said Filbin’s assistance and dedication is greatly valued. 

“When Bill shows up and pops the lid on his SUV, everybody gathers to thank him,” he said. “We so much appreciate everything Bill has done over the years. He was so excited when I saw him the other day that it’s this time of year again. So, I know he’s going to be there for us.”

Regarding the level of need in Collier County, Filbin theorized it’s likely far beyond what many Marco residents are aware of. 

“We don’t realize the size of the need, living here on this beautiful, tropical island,” he explained. “We don’t see it. God bless the people here who help the people who live across the (Jolley) bridge. This need is not just for Thanksgiving.” 

Filbin’s charitable background includes having been a long-time supporter of and volunteer with Special Olympics Florida - Collier County. He attributes his desire to give back to the example his parents and grandparents set as he grew up in his native Detroit. 

He recalled being a small child and his family’s weekly after church trips to visit his grandmother, who resided above the “little Irish bar” she owned in a downtrodden Motor City neighborhood. It was a time when Michigan’s “Blue Laws” banned bars from opening on the Sabbath, so Filbin, his parents and his younger brother would enter through the establishment’s back door. 

“There were always a couple people sitting at the end of the bar who had nowhere to go,” he said. “In the corner, there was always a big pot of soup cooking. At the time, I didn’t realize that my grandmother was running a soup kitchen, as well as a bar. On the way home, my father would see men standing on the side of the road with cardboard signs, asking for help. We‘d pull over to the side of the road and I’d roll down the window and my father would hand me a shiny quarter and I’d hand it to the man. My father would explain on the way home that the man had nothing to eat, he had no place to go. He had nothing. I think that instilled my charitable ideals.”  

Last year’s Thanksgiving dinner at St. Matthews was to-go only due to the COVID pandemic. However, it’s become common for meals to be provided to more than 500 families. 

“This year, we’re hoping we can get back to actually having a seated meal, so we’re expecting a larger number (of meals),” said Brooder. “In fact, at our homeless shelter the waiting list has jumped way up again. So, we think there’s going to be a big crowd this year for the Thanksgiving meal and hunger, in general, persists. We’re serving 18,000 to 19,000 families a month with groceries.”

To donate to the St. Matthew’s House Thanksgiving Dinner

To pick up aluminum disposable trays with covers, stop by the Association’s office, located at 140 Waterway Drive. The number is 239-394-5616. You can also call or text Filbin at 239-370-8118 to have them delivered anywhere on Marco.

The trays are stacked for travel, so no excess liquid please

The pre-cooked side dishes and boxed up pies can be dropped off from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM on Thanksgiving day at the association’s office for delivery to St. Matthew’s House.

For more information about the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors Thanksgiving Side Dish Food Drive, or to have a tray dropped off, call or text Bill Filbin at 239-370-8118. For more information about St. Matthew’s House, visit stmatthewshouse.org.