By Naeisha Rose
Mount Moriah AME Church and local Chef Premo Sanders will host the ninth-annual Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner in Cambria Heights from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22.
The church is located at 116-20 Francis Lewis Blvd. and state, city and community leaders are expected to attend the event, according to James McCray, a spokesman for Mount Moriah.
“We are giving away food to 1,000 people in the community at shelters, subways stations, nursing homes and at the Community Dinner,” said Sanders, a St. Albans resident who started attending the church four years ago. “We have 50 community volunteers who are going to help us.”
The Southern fusion chef who studied at the New York Restaurant School (1991) in Manhattan will be serving Southern fried chicken, catfish, candied yams, mac ‘n’ cheese, collard greens, string beans, cakes, pies and all sorts of side dishes, according to Sanders.
“The whole community is invited, especially those who may feel a little disenfranchised,” said Reverend Robert Lowe of Mount Moriah. “It is the role of the church and faith-based communities to provide and fill in the gap where persons who may not be able to provide for their families, for those who are homeless … and we are looking for as many people to come.”
The chef who has experience with Southern food fused with classic Americana, Thai, Chinese, Spanish, French and Italian was happy to give back to the local community.
“I feel that being that I’m a chef, the best way to give back is through food,” said Sanders.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
