For many people Thanksgiving is a time of abundance of food, family and friends, for others it’s not. For the second year in a row, Atlanta Falcons Linebacker Sean Witherspoon helped change that by providing Thanksgiving dinner for underprivileged families.

Witherspoon, founder of SPOONful of Hope Foundation, he launched his SPOON-feed A Family Initiative in 2011 and repeated it this year. On Nov. 22, Witherspoon hosted the event at the World of Coca-Cola, feeding a number of families as well as giving away gift bags and prizes, running drills and passes, and signing autographs and taking pictures. Four local families were present at the event. 

Participants were required to submit a 200 word or fewer essay outlining the family’s situation and why they should be chosen.

Olivia Talley, a 7th grade CMS student, Amya Simpson, a 12 year old middle school student, De’Ontay Walker, a 10 year old Hightower Trail Elementary School student, and Jonathon Kirpatrick, a 10 year old CJ Hicks Elementary student all submitted applications, and were selected to participate in the event. All four of these students are also members of the Rockdale County Boys and Girls Club.

In their essays, they all acknowledged how much of a difference it would make in their lives if they were able to attend the event, and receive some much needed food.