MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Before 6 p.m., about 30 people had already been to Matthew Hicks’s home in Miami-Dade County for a Thanksgiving meal.
Hicks, the owner of RIDE Transportation, said he planned to keep the celebration going until 4 a.m. on Friday.
Some of the guests at his home near Miami Shores, where his pets include dogs, turtles, and a pig, had received his invitation on Facebook.
“I started this ten years ago because no one reached out to me to see if I wanted to join them on Thanksgiving,” Hicks wrote to his 9,000 followers.
Hicks said he decided to go to McDonald’s that day, and then he had an idea that many have been grateful for over the years.
“I do this so we all have a place. I worry every year that no one will show up, but every year it gets better. It really feels like a block party or the end of a high school movie,” Hicks wrote on the invitation. “It really brings me joy doing this, and I hope to see you.”
Hicks’s “big friendsgivings” have grown into an event he calls the “Land of Misfit Toys Thanksgiving Extravaganza.” His most popular dish has been the macaroni and cheese.
“I will treat you like a drive-thru if you need to. If you are on your way to work,” Hicks said about packing his to-go plates for his friends.
Hicks said his house party attracts an “eclectic mix of people.” Some of the guests said they are not originally from South Florida.
“I don’t want people feeling alone … Out here it’s like that a lot,” Hicks said. “It’s a big transplant city, so a lot of people are away from families.”
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