Greeted by the sounds of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School marching band, nearly 3,000 people in the community made their way into Gloria and Emilio Estefan's 12th annual Thanksgiving Day "Feed a Friend" event.
"We are very blessed, very thankful and Miami has always been there for us so on a day like today, sometimes people don't have a special place to go to and we wanted to offer that," Gloria Estefan said.
Families in need shared a Thanksgiving meal together, complete with all the traditional trimmings mixed with a little bit of Cuban flare.
"We're agricultural workers, so it is sometimes hard to put a plate on the table because of the amount of children that we have or things like that," said Jaine Mendoza, who attended the event. "So we are very grateful."
The Thanksgiving event was more than just a feast. There was plenty of entertainment to cheer up people of all ages, from clowns who made the dessert station extra sweet, to a kid zone featuring games.
"It's more important each year to make sure we focus on them and make them happy," Glorida Estefan said. "Especially families that may fall through the cracks and may not have something fun to do on Thanksgiving."
"It's a beautiful thing," Emilio Estefan said. "When we go home tonight we have our own Thanksgiving with the family, we feel blessed and giving back is a beautiful thing."
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Santa also made a special guest appearance, but some weren't quite ready to say goodbye to Thanksgiving and hello to Christmas just yet.
"It just shows how much love and unity there is when things like this happen," Isabel Garcia said.
