Thanksgiving 2023 at Galazio Restaurant has come and gone now, however the stories from the volunteers and the guests will remain forever. Volunteers were grateful to have an opportunity to serve, a few served from the start and didn’t leave until the very end. Guests arrived from all different walks of life, some that fell on hard times financially, or they couldn’t make it to their family, (some guests preferred the Galazio family than their own.) Overall the experience for everyone involved was full of appreciation; from the volunteers serving to the guests enjoying a high quality Traditional Thanksgiving Meal completely free.

In my case I am very proud of the food that we served. To me freshness and finding the best ingredients means going to the farms. Our turkeys for the event came from local farms in Southern Maryland; I traveled to the Amish in St. Mary’s County and then Shlagel Farms in Waldorf, and secured 16 fresh turkeys. Additionally, through donations from our wonderful guests at Galazio Restaurant, we received an additional 6 turkeys. So we cooked a total of 22 turkeys, 10 smoked, 12 oven roasted.

The beginning of the journey, finding good farm fresh turkeys!
Turkey Preparations!

Smoking Turkey is not my forte so I appreciate the help I received from Kevin M. With Kevin’s expertise and attention to detail, guests enjoyed seriously delicious and moist turkey!

Volunteers Thanksgiving Day 2023

None of this could have been possible without our volunteers. I deeply appreciate all of the help provided! I didn’t realize how much they enjoyed participating; throughout the day I heard so many ‘thank you for doing this, we will come help you every time’ or ‘thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve.’ I truly felt the spirit of Thanksgiving and especially my brother, Iossif Marios Gressis’ as the atmosphere was filled with thanks.

kitchen volunteers in action
The Kitchen Team Prepping Food
Front of House Volunteers Providing Service
Coordinating Volunteers
Food service volunteers
Happy Faces all around
Kitchen Volunteers
Pictures with the Turkey
Catch a glimpse of Thanksgiving Day at Galazio Restaurant in 2023!

Special Thanks

A very special thanks to Woody from Rootbound Farms. Their organization brought us around ten smoked hams at the last minute to support the event; and to John Flatley from Chic Fil A, for always giving advice and supporting our event!

Thank you to all those who donated cash the day of the event, and finally thanks to:

Jasmine F.
Kimberly M.
David T.
Wendell R.
Russell Y.
Melanie B.
Stuart B.
Laura S.
Courtney M.
Kevin A.
Mark C C.

Our Turn!

After a long memorable day it was our turn to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with family! We hope you enjoyed our celebration of Iossif Mario Gressis Day!