The Imperial Court de San Diego will host its annual Scott Carlson Thanksgiving Dinner at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego in Hillcrest on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26.

“For the past 21 years, the Scott Carlson Community Thanksgiving Dinner has been a home away from home to people who have nowhere to spend Thanksgiving,” Empress Julia Legaspi said. “It is always something I look forward to every year.”

Legaspi has been involved with the Imperial Court since 1986 and started volunteering for the dinner in 1991.

The theme of this year’s event is community, said event chair Joni Moore. “Most people have been affected by the economy. It is a way of saying you are not alone, we are in this together.”

Last year’s dinner fed approximately 140 people, Moore said, and believes that more people will be attending this year’s dinner because of the economy.

Although times may be tough, Moore has not seen a lack of community support.

“I have been overwhelmed by the absolute and complete generosity of every person and every business I have approached to help with this dinner,” Moore said, noting sponsors are contributing monetary donations, food and beverages.

“They have answered my requests for help with not just, ‘Yes,’ but I have been consistently asked, ‘What else do you need?’” Moore said. “The spirit of community is alive in San Diego.”

According to Queen Mother of the Americas, Nicole Murray-Ramirez, District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria is donating 12 turkeys for the dinner.

In previous years, the Imperial Court de San Diego paid a caterer to prepare and serve the meal, but due to this year’s financial constraints, volunteers will take over the responsibility.

“We’re returning to doing it ourselves to save money and make sure what finances we have we can use as efficiently as possible,” Murray-Ramirez said.

San Diego activist Scott Carlson started the dinner 21 years ago and was a friend of Murray-Ramirez. After Carlson’s death, the Imperial Court de San Diego assumed responsibility for dinner and renamed the event in his honor. In the spirit of the season, the Imperial Court de San Diego has not put any restrictions on dinner-goers and anyone is able to attend free of charge.

Murray-Ramirez thinks Carlson would approve of the open-table policy.

“I think he would have wanted us to start including people with cancer and other ailments and homeless people because he was very compassionate,” Murray-Ramirez said.

The dinner unites guests and volunteers of different backgrounds other than the GLBT and HIV/AIDS communities.

“I happen to be a heterosexual woman,” Joni Moore said. “I was honored to be invited to attend, volunteer and participate in last year’s event.”

Moore added the Imperial Court de San Diego is honored to have anyone who attends.

“He had AIDS openly and proudly as an activist when most people would hide it,” Murray-Ramirez said. Carlson, a voice for people living with HIV/AIDS, thought of the idea for the dinner one year sometime around the Thanksgiving Holiday.

“He felt Thanksgiving would be a nice time to bring people together with HIV/AIDS because many were very much lepers,” Murray-Ramirez said. “I think he felt this would be a way to let people know that someone cared.”

Murray-Ramirez and Moore both share a certain sentiment when talking about the dinner. Moore said she left last year’s dinner with a full and grateful heart.

“It was an honor to serve dinner to folks I had never met before, and may never see again,” she said. “I saw pleasure and contentment in the eating of good food, having good conversation and a sense of community in the faces of every person I met.”

Moore’s coronation into the the Imperial Court de San Diego took place last year and this is her second year working with the dinner.

“I believe that people who attend this dinner are given the dignity and respect they deserve,” Murray-Ramirez dotingly added. “I think our community is very compassionate and remarkable. It continues to be a wonderful event that brings a tear to your eye.”

This year’s menu includes turkey with cornbread stuffing and gravy, glazed ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, string bean casserole, fresh salad, homemade baked macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, and a variety of pies.

Since the organization’s inception, the Imperial Court de San Diego has raised more than $25 million. The Imperial Court de San Diego is able to coordinate the Dinner each year due to fundraising, donations by Imperial Court de San Diego members and through corporate sponsor donations.

The First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego is located at 4190 Front Street, in Hillcrest. For more information, visit www.imperialcourtsandiego.com or call 619-692-1967.