THANKSGIVING
Food & Spirits. They will feed those who can’t afford a meal at the YWCA Family Shelter, the Community Shelter Board and the New Albany Food Pantry.
All the money will go the same place, though: Ohio State University’s Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital.
“Everybody knows somebody or has been affected by cancer in some way, shape or form. We wanted to do something to honor the people and organizations around Columbus fighting cancer,” Freedman said.
“If there was one day of the year to give back, it’s Thanksgiving,” he said.
Freedman started his charitable effort in 2014. He used a fryer his father-inlaw purchased more than a decade ago to cook 11 turkeys and raised $1,000 for the hospital.
The effort has grown each year. Freedman added two fryers to his arsenal, and he borrowed two more this year. He incorporated Fry Out Cancer as a nonprofit this year.
In the first three years, he raised $15,000. This year, he hoped to raise as much as he had in the first three fries combined. Around 4 p.m., donations totaled more than $14,000. Freedman suggests a $125 donation for each bird, but donors tend to be more generous. Checks are made out directly to the hospital, and credit card donations are accepted directly through its charitable giving website.
Sponsors cover the $3,500 in overhead costs: oil, materials, a freezer trailer to store the turkeys, and other costs.
Volunteers started preparing the turkeys on Tuesday, cleaning them before injecting them with marinade and coating them with a dry rub. They work in shifts with Freedman on Thanksgiving Day to make sure turkeys are dropped into fryers at precisely the right time before scheduled pickups.
“Anyone who comes here for Thanksgiving knows what they are getting themselves into. They aren’t getting a free ride of the parade and football,” Freedman said. “And they are fine with that.”
Marc Rossio milled around Freedman’s driveway waiting for his turkey on Thursday. He said he didn’t have a lot of time to cook one himself. Also, cancer has repeatedly touched his family. Both his mother and mother-in-law are going through treatment.
“We know how it affects us. The price just became irrelevant,” said Rossi, of Gahanna.
Juli Crist keeps a photograph of Louie Becker in her car. She was working in the hyperbarics section of the James when Becker came for treatment. Becker died last year, but Crist said she volunteered to deliver turkeys to families served by the New Albany Food Pantry when Becker’s father told her about Fry Out Cancer.
“It’s a good lesson for my kids, to give back,” said Crist, of Lewis Center. “It’s very close to my heart.”