Mattress Mack hosts Thanksgiving Day feast at Gallery Furniture

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Mattress Mack hosted a free community lunch at Gallery Furniture's flagship store in North Houston Thursday afternoon.

This is the second year in a row Gallery Furniture has hosted a community-wide Thanksgiving Day feast.  According to Mattress Mack, the store used to do this years ago but they decided to bring it back last year to help out families devastated by Hurricane Harvey. 

With music blasting and lines wrapped around the parking lot, more than 5,000 people like Pepe Flores were able to share a warm Thanksgiving feast with his family.

"I'm very appreciative for what they're doing. It's a good thing especially for the people that don't have anything, you know. And I would be one of those," Flores said.  

Each year, many give thanks to the simple things.

"What I'm thankful for-- it's simple. It's a roof over my head, food to eat and a job to support myself," said Danny Vidale.

But this year, some owe it to the man who always finds a way to give back. 

"It's a blessing to have him here and in the community because he always gives us a present, especially to my grandkids," Elena Landin said.

"Happy thanksgiving to everybody. It's a great day in Houston. It's a great day to share food and fellowship out here at Gallery Furniture," Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale said. 

With eight different food trucks to choose from, tables decorated with drawings donated by the children of Humble ISD and roughly four hours of continuous servings of turkey, potatoes and tacos-- the Houston community feasted well Thursday afternoon. 

"We had turkey, we had pie, we had ham and ice cream and a lot of other varieties of food," Cristy Torres said.

"The food truck lady told me the bill was going to go way over what was expected, but that's a good thing, you know. We're here to feed everybody. We started around 11 and we'll be feeding people up until about 2 p.m., so the more the better," McIngvale said. 

For Mattress Mack, the season of giving has just begun. 

"We have a sign in the store that says we all have a responsibility for the well-being in our community and I think we take that very seriously. A better community means a better Houston and a better Texas for all of us. And on days like Thanksgiving, we count our blessings, thank our friends and our new friends. So saying thanks is a good thing," McIngvale said.