Lattimore, family to feed 1,000 for Thanksgiving in Ridgeland

Vernon Smith wasn't sure what to think when his stepson told him where he wanted to launch a Thanksgiving project last year.

"I just got a call from him one day when he was in California," recalled Smith, who heads up Marcus Lattimore's charitable foundation. "He said, 'Vern, we need to go to Jasper County and feed people for Thanksgiving.' I'm asking where is Jasper County? We'd never been here."

Smith made some calls, and a few weeks later Lattimore was on hand to help dish up 400 meals.

The former South Carolina running back is back in Ridgeland this week, with his family and dozens of volunteers preparing a more ambitious objective -- 1,000 meals.

"We're parents of athletes, so we're always competitive," said Smith, as a nearby smoker went through the process of slow-cooking 23 turkeys. "Four hundred to 1,000 is a huge hump, but that's our goal. We know it's something we can accomplish."

Some will be packaged for delivery to senior citizens in the county. Most, though, will be available for anyone who walks into the Bar-B-Q Grill on Main Street. The restaurant will stay open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday for anyone wanting to grab a warm meal.

Law enforcement officers, firefighters and servicemen are especially encouraged to partake, but the meal is open to anybody. Donations are being accepted from those who would like to help offset costs.

"We're excited," Smith said. "Marcus is glad he picked this area out. He did some research on some areas and identified this area as needing a little outreach. That's why we're down here, and hopefully we can continue doing this each year. We've grown to love the town."

Lattimore, once the nation's top high-school football recruit, starred at USC until his career was cut short by a torn ACL in 2011. The Duncan native rehabbed well enough to be drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, but retired last season when his knee could not respond well enough for NFL competition.

The foundation he established lives on, though, touching the lives of South Carolinians via community outreach and offering guidance to young athletes who hope to play in college. The foundation put on four "leadership academy" seminars this year in different parts of the state.

The Thanksgiving project is one of the foundation's earliest outreaches. Things were going so smoothly, in fact, that Lattimore slipped away for an afternoon of hunting.

"A lot of hands make easy work of it," said Randy Horton, owner of Bar-B-Q Grill. He was introduced to Smith and the foundation through Jimmy Baker, whose son was a Gamecocks teammate of Lattimore's.

"Jimmy Baker is one of the guys that we used to sit beside at football games," Smith said. "So we were familiar with Jimmy Baker, but that's all I knew down here. I said, 'Jimmy, I've never been down there. All I know is we want to feed some people; you need to help me out.' And he got me connected."

Last year's project was pretty much on the fly, with perhaps a month's lead time. But Horton's restaurant has plenty of experience at large-scale catering, so things went smoothly. "Marcus and his dad were so pleased," Horton said.

Thursday will be a grander scale. In addition to the 23 turkeys, the project is preparing 480 pieces of chicken, 120 pounds of roasted pork and all the trimmings -- cornbread, macaroni and cheese, green beans, potato salad, sweet potatoes, rolls and varied desserts.

Lattimore's mother, Yolanda Smith, said the project drew so much interest that they had to cap the number of volunteers. She wasn't about to sit this one out, though.

Mrs. Smith missed last year's project while she was preparing Thanksgiving for her extended family. This time, she could be found in the middle of kitchen prep.

"Anytime I get the opportunity to feed everybody, I'm happy," she said, noting that they often had Lattimore's USC teammates over for the holidays.

"When they told me it was 1,000 people, I wanted to be in that number. ... Feed the body, feed the soul."

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Lattimore, family to feed 1,000 for Thanksgiving in Ridgeland."