BOCA RATON, Fla. — On Christmas Day, Derrick Parker brought his big family in their matching pajamas to the mall.
As they dined together in the food court, Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer scooped extra helpings of stuffing onto their plates. Dozens more volunteers shuffled between decorated tables with pitchers of lemonade, trays of baked crescent rolls, and bowls of side dishes.
Parker said he normally wouldn’t be able to afford a meal out for his entire family on Christmas Day, but this meal was taken care of by Boca Helping Hands with help from the Town Center at Boca Raton Mall and some of its top restaurants.
"(My kids) are having a great time!” Parker said. “They’re able to spend time with their siblings, and have fun.”
The Parkers were among the roughly 500 people expected at the Christmas Day feast at the mall.
“It’s an opportunity for us to more than simply provide a meal or provide a bag of groceries to our clients,” said Gregory Hazle, Executive Director of Boca Helping Hands. “It’s an opportunity to give people a taste of the luxury that is part of our reputation here in Boca.”
The event is not just meaningful to the families who came out to enjoy a quality meal, a visit with Santa, and take home a toy or two.
Layne Siegel has been volunteering at the feast with his family every year since its inception nine years ago.
“Christmas-- it’s a holiday I don’t celebrate. But instead of sitting at home doing whatever, I’m here, giving back to the community that helped raise me,” Siegel said. “My father always gave. Sometimes he didn’t have a lot of money to give, so he always gave time.”
Siegel's father, Spencer Siegel, died four months ago. This year’s feast was his kids’ first without him, so Siegel and his siblings, Bennett and Sabrina, plan to carry on Spencer’s legacy by volunteering at the event every year.
“After he died, I realized that the community was always giving back to us," said Bennett Siegel. “He was just putting back the energy that the community gave to him back out into the world, tenfold.”
“It just creates more memories and more happy moments with people that I love,” Sabrina said.
