The Boys & Girls Club of the Santa Clarita Valley hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for the club’s families on Tuesday evening. 

“It’s a privilege to come out and serve these families,” said Chance Corbitt, general manager for Autonation BMW and Mini, the event sponsor. “We’ve been sponsoring this event for many years now, and there are people from other local dealers who are thrilled to be here as well.”

The Thanksgiving dinner has been held for decades, according to Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley CEO Matthew Nelson.

“This is my 16th year with the club,” Nelson said. “I started in 2003. We’ve done it every year, and I’ve been told we’ve basically always done this. The club is 51 years old, so we started some time ago.”

The dinner provided is intended to be much more than a meal, but also a chance for parents to relax, not worry about food preparation and be present with their children. Parents have the opportunity to meet their children’s friends, or other parents in the club.

“It’s a long-running tradition, an opportunity for everybody to come together and sit down,” Nelson said. “Parents really appreciate it to have a nice dinner and not have the pressure to make it. It gives them a break.”

In addition to the free dinner, families in need were given donated turkeys for their own Thanksgiving. Nelson added that this dinner is also meant to be a representation of positivity after the difficult fall Santa Clarita has endured. 

“It’s been a rough fall with fires and tragedies, so it’s nice for everybody to relax and be together,” he said. “And for some of our families, this may be their Thanksgiving dinner. We try to provide.”

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