“ I went back there and said I was making chili cheese dogs that Saturday ,” said Calabrese . “ I had no place to set up , and O ’ Reilly ’ s said I could set up behind their place . Very first time , I fed one guy , and from there it just kept growing .”
From there , he realized just how much of a need there was , leading him to start Soul Food during the 2020 pandemic .
“ We started out feeding just probably five or 10 people , and then from there it escalated ,” said Calabrese . “ Now we ’ re around 65 people every Saturday , every Sunday , rain , sleet or snow , we ’ re feeding .”
These weekend meals are held at Central Baptist Church at the pavilion , where Soul Food also brings a trailer .
“ We have hygiene products and snack bags ,” said Calabrese . “ We try to put in snacks for the kids … all these kids weren ’ t getting anything , except when they went to school , so we put a breakfast snack in there , a lunch snack and then a supper snack , plus some other stuff .”
Since getting started , Soul Food has grown to help wherever it can . In addition to the weekend meals , Soul Food was also ready to help after tornados in Marietta , OK and then again in Valley View . The group has also hosted large Easter egg hunts and Thanksgiving meals .
“ We have a huge Thanksgiving meal the Saturday before ,” said Calabrese .
“ Our first year , we did just about 100 , and then we did 300 , and last year we served 600 meals .”
This meal , hosted at First Christian Church , has had huge turnout and huge help .
“ Last year , we had five extra hams at the end to it ,” said Calabrese . “ There were five families that asked if we had any extra that they could take with them , and they all got to take a ham home with them .”
Also during the holidays , Calabrese runs Cowboy Santa out of his trailer repair shop , where he and his team try to get toys for kids who may not otherwise get a Christmas present .
“ Those proceeds come from a lot of my customers through the trailer shop , but also there ’ s a lot of different people in the community that donate ,” said Calabrese .
While kids don ’ t always get everything on their wishlist , at the very least they ’ re guaranteed one thing they ’ ve requested , something they can use and something they can wear . Last year , 140 kids received gifts from Cowboy Santa .
“ Right at Christmastime , this whole office is just full of everything ,” said Calabrese . “ Amazon drops off by the truckload .”
Calabrese has also used some of his connections in the community to make some very unique Christmas wishes come true .
GAINESVILLE LIVING 14 HOLIDAY 2024