Dion Smith felt there was a lot he had to be thankful for, so he decided to share his blessings last night.

The 35-year-old gave out free Thanksgiving dinners to anyone in need – a tradition he started last year.

“As you know times are hard right now and a lot of people aren’t working, they can’t afford groceries. I did this last year and a lot of people were grateful for it,” he said.

“Even without this Covid situation going on, there would still be a lot of people out there struggling right now. I’ve always been one to just give. I hate to see people struggling so I just do what I can to try and help the community.”

Turkey, macaroni and cheese and cassava pie were all served from the kitchen at Southampton Rangers Sports Club.

Said Mr Smith: “Rangers has a chef up there, Damina, a lady who runs the kitchen. I just contacted her; asked her if she was willing to cook up a bunch of food. I gave her the funds for it and made sure that everybody at Rangers and whoever was willing to travel that far, could get a free plate of food.”

He got the idea last Thanksgiving because he knew of “a few people that were struggling – ladies with families”.

“They couldn’t afford a turkey,” said Mr Smith, an employee in government’s Waste Management Department who also gives away the birds that he gets from his job at Christmas.

“I try to do little things for the community. For example, for my daughter’s birthday last year or the year before last, instead of having a private party I ordered a few fun castles and invited all the children around the neighbourhood, around the Southampton area, to just come and play.”

The Southampton resident is not certain where he got his giving nature from.

“I just have a disposition against people struggling,” he explained. “I found myself blessed and so I would like to pass it on, that’s all.”

He expected to feed as many as 60 people last night. His hope is to inspire other people to do similar good works and to also help people understand that Rangers is not a bad place despite incidents such as the one last month, when a man was stabbed on the grounds of the South Road sports club.

“Rangers has a very bad name,” said Mr Smith who lives only a stone’s throw from the building. “But there are so many good people up there. Rangers is not a bad place. I just want the community and people to understand that they can feel comfortable coming up there.”

In that spirit last night’s dinner was open to anyone in need, said Mr Smith who also helped serve the food.

“It will be again next year as well. I hope to make it an annual thing and that it gets bigger and bigger. And I hope to encourage other people across the island to do more in their communities as well.”