Behind The Scenes Of Mama G's, A Free Thanksgiving Dinner For SF's Neediest

Behind The Scenes Of Mama G's, A Free Thanksgiving Dinner For SF's NeediestPeter Gallotta (right) serving food at this year's street dinner. (Photo: Steven Bracco/Hoodline)
Steven Bracco
Published on November 24, 2015

Last month, we asked readers to nominate local people, businesses and organizations that are doing good in their communities to be featured here on Hoodline. This week, we're running a series based entirely on those reader suggestions. Here's one such story. 


For the past seven years, a group of San Francisco residents has gathered to provide a free Thanksgiving meal on the Sunday before Turkey Day. This year, as always, the group set up at UN Plaza, serving turkey and all the trimmings: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, ham, green beans, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce—and pumpkin pie, of course. Over the course of three hours, Mama G's Thanksgiving Street Dinner fed over 500 people. 

The annual event was founded by Tenderloin resident Peter Gallotta in 2009. Born in the Bronx, he went to high school in New York City on a scholarship, and soon developed a "sense of community activism and commitment to service work."

Gallotta got his start volunteering with the Momentum Project in Queens, which provides food pantry, meal and nutritional services for homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic medical conditions. After graduating from Columbia University in 2009, Gallotta moved to San Francisco; he's lived at Geary and Hyde in the Tenderloin for the past six years. 

Gallotta got his first taste of the Tenderloin during a summer 2008 internship. "I was drawn to the community—the diversity, the density, the history, and the resilience I saw on the faces of the people I met," he told us.

During his time in San Francisco, Gallotta has had a number of jobs: he's worked in labor organizing, as an advocate for affordable housing, and on transportation and sustainability projects for the city. Currently, he's a public outreach consultant for an environmental marketing company in Oakland.

He's also involved in community efforts: he's currently the co-president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, and is an appointed member of the Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Citizens Advisory Committee, on which he represents the Tenderloin/Downtown neighborhoods.

Mama G's Street Dinner, 2010. (Photo: Mama G's)

But of all the causes with which Gallotta is involved, he says Mama G's Thanksgiving Street Dinner is the closest to his heart. "As a housed person with access to some resources, seeing the daily struggle that my neighbors on the streets were experiencing—that sparked the desire to do something."

Gallotta comes from a big Italian family, and was "blessed with many 'mothers' growing up: my grandmother, aunts, and of course, my mom," he says. As with many Italian families, food is what brought Gallotta and his family together. At holidays, everyone would squeeze into either his mom's or aunt's dining room to eat, and any friends that didn't have a place to go were always invited to join.

"The generosity of the women of my family is what inspired the 'Mama' in Mama G's," he said. "They taught me that food and family and love are ingredients in life that should be shared with everyone."

Guests of Mama G's enjoying a meal. (Photo: Steven Bracco/Hoodline)

During the seven years that Gallotta has been organizing Mama G's, he's seen a lot of changes in the Tenderloin and across San Francisco. With each passing year, more and more people arrive in need of a meal.

"One in four San Franciscans are hungry or food insecure. While times are good for some in San Francisco, we are seeing an unprecedented rise in inequality in our city, which means we've seen more families at our table than in the early years," Gallotta said. "We have more families and people who are struggling to make ends meet and many who are being priced out of the Tenderloin as rents have increased everywhere, including here ... Hunger is an issue that affects not only the most vulnerable in our community, but actually so many more of us. It's an issue that is not being sufficiently addressed."

Gallotta instructs volunteers before this year's event. (Photo: Mama G's)

Mama G's enjoys a great deal of support from Tenderloin businesses, including The Loin store, Strand Barber & Beauty, San Francycle, Soul Groove and Fleet Wood SFThis year alone, the event was able to raise $6,000 through fundraisers and donations from supporters.

After each year's meal is held, Mama G's gives back any leftover money to the community, through grants to projects that it supports. Gallotta says he and his team haven't decided yet on who will receive the funds this year; the planning committee is set to meet and discuss beneficiaries in the next few weeks, with grants being distributed by year's end. 

A mother and her son enjoy the Mama G's meal. (Photo: Rylan Gregory/Facebook)

The guests at the dinner vary widely—as Gallotta puts it, "we see San Francisco." Transients, homeless people, families, seniors, people with disabilities, queer and trans people, and youth all attend.

"We believe in the goodness of each person who comes to our table," Gallotta said. "Many of those at our table haven't had a warm meal in weeks or months. Many do not have regular access to a nutrient-rich diet. This is why what we do matters."

The volunteers at this year's dinner. (Photo: Mama G's)

The meal is served by volunteers, and this year saw a record turnout, with 70 people coming out to set up and serve the food. [Disclosure: This reporter was one of them.] Donors, "many of whom have never actually been to the event, but support what we are doing," are also a big part of helping things run smoothly. 

Gallotta's right-hand man is his close friend Ryan Bradley, whom he initially approached with the idea to do the dinner in 2009. He says that without batting an eye, Bradley told him, "Let's do it."

Bradley was critical in bringing on board the event's volunteer executive chef, Cory Armenta, who's been with Mama G's since the beginning. Armenta, who's currently the chef at the Castro's Hecho, oversees the logistics of preparing such a huge meal. This year, he cooked a record 14 turkeys at Bayview-based caterer Fork & Spoon. Without him, Gallotta said, "we wouldn't be able to serve not only the high quantity, but also the high quality of food that we do every year."

Mama G's planning committee, consisting of volunteers Kai Tinao, Alvaro Gonzalez Jr., Richard Whipple, Julian Contreraz, Brendan Blakewell and Adriel Lively, helps keep thing running smoothly. "Their commitment inspires me to continue to think big about what Mama G's can be," Gallotta said. 

Mama G's planning committee, from left: Adriel Lively, Brendan Blakewell, Julian Contreraz, Cory Armenta, Peter Gallotta, Kai Tinao, Alvaro Gonzalez and Richard Whipple. (Photo: Mama G's)

Community figures also come to lend a hand. District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes the Tenderloin, stopped by on Sunday to serve up turkey to her constituents.

Jane Kim (left) and Gallotta at this year's dinner. (Photo: Supervisor Jane Kim/Facebook)

Gallotta is the first to admit that the dinner "was a totally wild idea," and when he first started it, he wasn't sure anyone would get behind him and support his vision. But thanks to "the generous support and commitment of our volunteers and donors," he and his team have begun to imagine what Mama G's might look like in another two, five, or even 10 years.

"How can we make more of an impact in the Tenderloin community?" Gallotta said. "That's the one question that always drives us."