Kids & Family

Marticio Serving Up Over 1,000 Plates for Thanksgiving

Ma Duke's lives on with free Thanksgiving meals for those in need, and you can also volunteer Thanksgiving morning to deliver meals with the Danvers Lions Club.

Ma Duke's may be closed, but Debby Marticio and her family are as busy as ever preparing to serve up as many as 1,500 Thanksgiving meals next week.

Marticio says she closed her Maple Street restaurant earlier this year after six years in business due to personal health reasons, but there are still homeless families, home-bound seniors and others in need of a meal on Thanksgiving.

Marticio and her husband, Mike, have dished up free holiday meals -- between 1,000 and 1,500 plates each year -- to local residents, substance abuse clients at a Danvers treatment center and clients living at the Inn Transition shelter in Peabody. The total cost is around $15,000 this year, most of which comes from donations, and they're only halfway there.

"Times are hard for a lot of people these days and we hope to make this holiday a little brighter for them. Please help to keep this tradition going for many years to come," writes Marticio on her gofundme page.

Marticio tells the Salem News she already have 100 volunteers signed up for Thanksgiving, but can always use more, especially to deliver meals that morning. She will be setting up at the American Legion Post in Middleton.

She tells the paper many meals will go to people in nearby North Shore communities, but even as far away as Manchester, N.H. to 75 homeless veterans.

If you'd like to donate or volunteer, call Marticio at 978-774-0172 or visit the Ma Duke's Thanksgiving page.

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The Danvers Lions Club will also gather again at Supino's Restaurant Thanksgiving morning to deliver meals to the elderly, shut-ins, homeless families and even firefighters on duty for the day. Ron Supino cooks up the meals and they're ready to deliver around 11:30 a.m. Just show up to help.

You can also check with the Danvers People-to-People Food Pantry on Sylvan Street for volunteering opportunities.


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