America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration Hometown Express

Oct. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- PLYMOUTH, Mass. – October 12, 2011 – While most people associate Thanksgiving with a bounty of food, turkey and all of the trimmings – the fact is many people in the greater Plymouth area will go hungry this year due to the economic climate. However this year, the America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration will again work to ensure that food is available for the hungry as a 36-foot float collects non-perishable goods along the parade route.

“We want to return to the original meaning of Thanksgiving and give thanks for what we have while sharing our bounty with the less fortunate,” said America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration Executive Director Olly deMacedo. “That’s why we are continuing the tradition by collecting non- perishable food items for the hungry.”

According to the legend, in 1623 the Plymouth settlers did not have enough food and were taught by Native Americans to learn to fish and plant crops. The sharing of the bounty led to one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States.

Last year, America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration continued the tradition by collecting more than 4,000 pounds of non-perishable food on a huge 36-foot parade float. The food was donated to the South Shore Community Action Council’s Greater Plymouth Food Warehouse.

“Thanks to the parade guests over 2 tons of food was collected,” said Greater Plymouth Food Warehouse Spokesperson Beth Thompson. “It was unbelievable. We had two whole aisles filled with palettes of food. It was the equivalent of 3,040 meals.”  

To help top this year’s collection, the Plymouth Rock Foundation partnered with the parade to extend the America’s Hometown Express train with a cart. They donated half of the train sponsorship this year

“We are planning to fill up the train as well as the cart,” deMacedo said. “Thanks to the generosity of our parade guests and sponsors, we are going to work hard so more families have food on their table this holiday season.”

The 2011 America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration will take place November 18 through 20 at the nation’s birthplace of Thanksgiving – Plymouth, Mass. For more information about the celebration, which has been named one of the top 10 Thanksgiving celebrations in the nation, please check out our website at www.usathanksgiving.com.

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