Donnie Vercher, founder of the Dream For Life nonprofit, believes that sharing a meal can uplift and unite a community — a mission carried forward each year through the organization’s annual Thanksgiving dinners.
Dream for Life will host its 12th annual free Thanksgiving dinner for the Woodland and Vancouver communities from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23.. The Woodland event will take place at Grace Community Church, located at 1311 Lewis River Road, while the Vancouver dinner will be held at 2711 NE Andresen Road.
Founded by Vercher, owner of Daddy D’s Southern Style BBQ, Dream for Life started over a decade ago with the mission to support and uplift local residents. Vercher was inspired by his son’s actions in sharing food with those in need.
“The way this really started was, my son was giving food out the back door to the community to people. I say, ‘Son, what are you doing?’ He goes, ‘Oh, this guy’s hungry.’ And so we got together and realized there was more need to it, and that’s what you see today,” Vercher said regarding the annual dinner.