Sean Kingston feeds homeless ... Singer hosts Thanksgiving dinner on King Street
Thanksgiving is not an officially recognised holiday in Jamaica, but the ‘Beautiful Girls’ singer, Sean Kingston, wanted to bring the tradition to his second home.
On Thursday, he fed dozens of homeless persons on the streets of downtown Kingston, continuing a tradition which his mother said started more than a decade ago.
“Knowing that Jamaica doesn’t really celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s something new. I always give back in the States, and I feel like bringing it back to my home, my culture, my country is something dope,” Sean Kingston told THE STAR, via telephone. “Last year, I did it with Soulja Boy and Tyga. I do it every year because Mama Kingston loves to give back.”
OUTREACH
Sean Kingston is currently in Canada on a Made in Jamaica tour, promoting his latest mix tape of the same title. However, his mother, Janice ‘Mama Kingston’ Turner, made sure Thursday’s outreach was a success. After one day of preparation and another day of cooking, Turner set up on King Street with a buffet spread featuring curried chicken, jerk chicken, barbecue chicken, oxtail, rice and peas, white rice, curried veggies, along with snack biscuits and soft drinks.
“We brought 500 plates and they ran out, and I had to get more,” she said.
Turner said the family has been handing out Thanksgiving dinners to the less fortunate for the past decade.
“We did Florida for four years, California for six years and now, for the first time, Jamaica,” Turner said.
Turner owns and operates three food trucks in California called Mama Kingston Kitchen. In 2015, Kingston, Turner and his four siblings made a Jamaican Thanksgiving dinner for 150 residents of Skid Row’s Ford Hotel in Los Angeles, 90 of whom suffer from mental illness.
Sean Kingston, meanwhile, told THE STAR that he plans to spend the holidays at his Jamaican home which he recently purchased.
“I’m definitely spending the holidays in Jamaica, Christmas! Christmas with the Kingstons, we do that every year too. Last year was mad. French Montana, Selena Gomez, everybody pull up! It was crazy! Now we waan switch it up. We tyad ah LA now fi do the party dem so, Jamaica— Christmas with the Kingstons. First official party will be down in Jamaica on Christmas. So, get ready. Mad!”