Ballpark Self Storage Hosts 6th Annual Thanksgiving Feast

Strat Property Management Inc. has a long history of supporting team members who want to better their community. In 2013 the Assistant Manager at StaxUP Storage - Chula Vista, and District Manager wanted to provide San Diego’s homeless population with dinner on Thanksgiving. They didn’t expect it would grow into one of Strat’s most popular annual events.

“That first year we wanted to implement something good for our kids to help them appreciate all that they have,” said the District Manager. “Immediately team members said ‘I want in! I want this to be a company event. Whatever it is you guys need we’ll be happy to help!' It started the first year with 100 people. Then it went to 150, then 200, and now we’re feeding close to 300 servings.”

The dinner was held at Ballpark Self Storage, located on the corner of Island Avenue and Fifth Street in San Diego’s Gaslamp district. While the team has adjusted to the increased traffic brought by this event, they’re happy to have a lot of help! More than twenty volunteers gathered together this year to make sure part of San Diego’s homeless population received a hot meal on Thanksgiving, including team members from Strat’s home office, StaxUP Storage - San Ysidro, and StaxUP Storage - Chula Vista.

The menu was quite impressive: 40lbs of potatoes, 6 turkeys, 8 spiral hams, 15-20 boxes of stuffing, and vats of corn. Team members came together to help put together the feast.

“We have a sleepover and we spend all night cooking turkeys,” they said, “We prep all the turkeys. The same way we prep turkeys for our families is the way we prep them for this event. We soak them and let them drown for a whole day in apple juice, seasoning, and garlic! Then we have to cook all night because we only have one oven. So we take one out and bring another one in.”

In addition to cooking and serving Thanksgiving dinner, they also made several trips by car to area shelters and homeless encampments offering a ride to anyone who had not yet eaten. They were able to bring between 10 and 15 carloads of people to the dinner. Some team members even went so far as to prepare plates and deliver food to those who were not physically able to attend the event.

A big “Thank You” to everyone who pitched in whether it was by cooking, serving, driving, or anything else to help make this event possible. Homelessness is a big issue in the San Diego community and it warms our heart to see so many Strat team members doing their part to help.

“It is nice to be part of a family that’s always looking for a way to help the community. It’s amazing,” they said. “I’m very fortunate to be a part of it. It’s an amazing company. I think everyone looks forward to this, and we really knocked it out of the park!”

For more information on how you can rent with us or join our self storage family, please visit Ballpark Self Storage.