🌸 How to give back this Thanksgiving

Good morning, DC.

In today’s District Download:

Let’s get to it.

The DMV is stacked with ways to help neighbors this holiday season, from delivering medically-tailored meals to battling chronic illness to running through Del Ray with your dog while raising funds for food banks. Food & Friends aims to deliver more than 4,600 holiday meals across the District through November 27, and volunteers can sign up for kitchen prep shifts or join the delivery driver team to bring roasted turkey, dressing, and pie to households in Northeast. Central Union Mission is collecting frozen turkeys, chickens, rice, beans, and canned vegetables through November 21 for their Thanksgiving celebration lunch and bingo game serving locals affected by poverty, with donations accepted at their Northeast location. The Edlavitch DCJCC continues its decades-long tradition of partnering with DC Central Kitchen to prepare side dishes for community members experiencing food insecurity, with volunteers cooking collard greens, yams, coleslaw, and apple crumble or helping sanitize utensils if you'd rather skip the actual cooking. Bread for the City distributes holiday turkeys, chickens, fresh groceries, and Latin and East Asian food options through November 25 at their Shaw and Anacostia centers, and a $100 donation provides a family of four with a complete holiday meal kit. For those who prefer their charity with cardio, the Turkey Chase through Bethesda November 24-30 offers 10K trail and 2-mile options (plus virtual swimming and biking) to raise funds for YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase, while the Alexandria Turkey Trot welcomes runners, walkers, and dogs through Del Ray at 9 AM on Thanksgiving morning with donations going to ALIVE!, and the Arlington Turkey Trot marks its 20th anniversary with an 8 AM start through Lyon Park and Ashton Heights benefiting Christ Church's work serving county residents. The Safeway Feast of Sharing on November 26 fills the Walter E. Washington Convention Center with hot meals, free health screenings, and live entertainment, with volunteer roles ranging from kitchen aide to language translator to clothing distribution. And for the truly ambitious, the DC Trot for Hunger kicks off Thanksgiving morning at Freedom Plaza as a 5K benefiting SOME (So Others Might Eat), continuing virtually through November 30 with a best-dressed turkey competition for pets and a family festival with music and activities, plus a Little Turkey 1-miler for kids. Sometimes the best recipe for healing doesn't come from a kitchen but from showing up when your neighbors need you most.

James Beard finalist Scott Drewno (the Fried Rice Collective behind Chiko and Anju) brought his Upstate New York roots to U Street in September with Upstate FTW, taking over the kitchen at Sports & Social to serve authentic Buffalo wings that he and his chef partners researched across eight Buffalo spots in one day. The overnight-brined, two-day-dried, 25-minute-fried wings headline a menu featuring Rochester's infamous garbage plates (bunless cheeseburgers over home fries and mac salad with meat sauce), beef on weck smoked in collaboration with 2Fifty BBQ, chicken riggies, and spiedies alongside a 25-foot LED wall for Commanders games—because while the food screams Buffalo, this is firmly DC's bar.

The DC Council introduced legislation this week that would give small and local businesses a fighting chance against national chains for prime retail space by offering three-year rent guarantees covering 100% of rent in year one, 50% in year two, and 25% in year three. The Small and Local Business Credit Enhancement Amendment Act addresses the reality that more than 98% of DC businesses are small operations but developers typically favor long-term leases with national brands that can pay higher rents and help secure project financing, leaving local entrepreneurs squeezed out of the neighborhoods they actually serve.

Emily Brown, who curated the craft beer program at Andy's Pizza, is opening Eebee's Corner Bar at 1840 6th Street NW in Shaw, taking over the space that was home to Bistro Bohem and more recently Quattro Osteria. The neighborhood bar is currently running practice nights ahead of its official opening, with a menu built around martinis, limited release beers, and food that reads like what you actually want when you walk into a bar—crab dip, burgers, and club sandwiches served in a cozy corner space with 67 seats inside and 19 on the sidewalk.

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Here’s what’s going on around DC this weekend:

Gallery Place | The Superfair | Shop original art directly from 70+ independent artists | 4 PM

Glen Echo Park | Contra Dance Lesson | Free lesson, live music, no experience needed | 7:30 PM

DAR Constitution Hall | Iliza Shlesinger | Award-winning comic performs "A Different Animal" special | 7 PM

The Phillips Collection | Out of Many Exhibition | 250th anniversary exhibit celebrating diverse American art | 10 AM

Arena Stage | Damn Yankees | Final performance of Broadway-bound baseball musical revival | 2 PM

MLK Library | Brian Baker: The Road | DC punk legend discusses touring photography book | 2 PM

Get your name in front of thousands of DMV area locals 3x/week.

Friday

63 🌡 37 | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 8 mph

Saturday

68 🌡 52 | 🌧️ 10% | 💨 7 mph

Sunday

68 🌡 44 | 🌧️ 25% | 💨 10 mph

9:30 Club | Vincent Lima | 6 PM

Birchmere Music Hall | The Jerry Douglas Band | 7:30 PM

The Atlantis | Taylor Acorn | 7:30 PM

The Anthem | Turnpike Troubadours | 7:30 PM

The Fillmore | pH-1 (Park Jun-won) | 8 PM

The Vault at Capital One Hall | Tay Tay Dance Party | 9 PM

9:30 Club | JMSN with Angelica Garcia | 10 PM

Soundcheck | Nico Moreno | 10 PM

Echostage | Duke Dumont | 10 PM

9:30 Club | Jukebox the Ghost with Boys Go To Jupiter | 6 PM

The Vault at Capital One Hall | Delta Spur | 6:30 PM

Union Stage | Ari Abdul | 7 PM

Birchmere Music Hall | Najee | 7:30 PM

The Atlantis | The Motet | 7:30 PM

Weinberg Center for the Arts | Dan Tyminski | 8 PM

The Barns at Wolf Trap | North Mississippi Allstars | 8 PM

Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University | Mohamad Chaker | 8 PM

The Fillmore | Bktherula | 8 PM

9:30 Club | The Disco Biscuits | 10 PM

Blues Alley | Eliane Elias | 5:30 PM

The Atlantis | Your Smith | 6:30 PM

9:30 Club | grandson with HO99O9 | 7 PM

Birchmere Music Hall | Blackmore's Night | 7:30 PM

Union Stage | Marielle Kraft | 8 PM

The Theater at MGM National Harbor | John Fogerty | 8 PM

Kennedy Center | Noochie's Live from the Front Porch | 8 PM

Blues Alley | Eliane Elias | 8 PM

The Spirit take on Racing Louisville at Audi Field tomorrow at noon in the NWSL quarterfinals, with tickets starting at $29 and the game airing on CBS. Washington finished the regular season as the #2 seed (12-6-8 record) and secured home-field advantage through the playoffs for the second straight year—last season they sold out both playoff matches at Rowdy Audi before falling in the championship. The Spirit swept the season series against Louisville with a 2-0 win before settling for a 2-2 draw in their second meeting, and experts are split between picking DC or top-seeded Kansas City Current to win the whole thing. A win Saturday means hosting another playoff match next weekend, with the championship game set for November 22 in San Jose.

Happy birthday and thank you to all of our readers! This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without your support. Share this email with three people to get a shoutout on your next birthday.

Jasmine from Navy Yard - David from Shaw - Keisha from H Street - Omar from Georgetown

Till next time,