Massapequa's Family Dinner

Janet Triany had just been released from the hospital and found herself alone.

"I woke up this morning crying," she said. "I called social services and asked, 'where can I go for Thanksgiving dinner?' "

But Triany, who said she suffers from multiple ailments, remembered the free meal she received at  caterers last year. She came back with her service dog, Sundance, who helps her with her balance and had a great meal. 

"I'm glad they had it here again," she said. "It was excellent , I love the sweet potatoes.

It was the third consecutive year that the catering hall has held the free dinner for those in need.

It was the brainchild of owner Richie Bivona, who started the tradition after reading an article about the shortage of food for the needy.

"I called a lot of organizations, and offered to donate turkeys, but they were looking for donations," Bivona said. "So I decided to do it here and do it the way I feel it should be done.

For Bivona, that means a dinner for more than 1,000 guests who came from all around the area to be served in style.

" We'll stay open until the lastperson is fed," the owner said.

One of the people who was in charge of making sure that happened was Tom Vinciguerra, a chef at Manor East.

"We try to do it right," he said. "You want to do the right thing for those who've found hard times. I want this to be a family meal. Not a slab of this and a slab of that. I do it the same as if it were my own home, from soup to nuts."

About 150 turkeys were donated for the event, as were cakes from Little Debbie. Also on the menu was stuffing, peas and mushrooms, string beans and a variety of desserts.

Those who came to eat were more than satisfied.

"The service is A1, the girls are great, I can't say enough about them," said Marilyn Tobin, a senior who heard about the dinner from her church.

"It's awesome," said Vanessa Horta of Brooklyn. "I can't explain, this is my first time coming here. Everything is so pretty."

Helping things along were more than 60 volunteers who gave up a good part of their holiday to serve the meals.

 Among them was Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who helped serve turkey soup.

"I'm very happy to be here," he said. "It's nice give help to people who need it and to give back to the community."

Rick Hyder said he came to help his community.

"If all of us could find it in our hearts to help people less fortunate than us, the world would be a better place," he said. "There's too much animosity in the world."

This year, a lot of Massapequans did their part for their neighbors.