About Us
About
Ernest Andrews (Red Andrews) was promoting boxing matches at the Stockyards Coliseum in the 1940s when he discovered the living conditions of some of his young parking lot workers who lived in the Mulligan Flats area. Some of them lived in one-room houses with mud floors. Moved to help these families find joy during the holidays, he invited them to participate in a Christmas dinner. Because of the ongoing needs of the city’s less fortunate families, Andrews built the dinner into a tradition, one that continued long after his death in 1977.
“The community embraced it, and we’ve since grown to serve over 8,000 people,” said Mary Blankenship Pointer, Red Andrews Christmas Dinner secretary and treasurer. “It’s had a ripple effect as people invited people, and it just grows and grows and grows. It’s now one of the largest community dinners in our region.”
Officers
Robert Goldman, President
Ken Cassil, Vice President
Mary Blankenship-Pointer, Secretary Treasurer
Robert Goldman, President
Thank you for visiting the Red Andrews Dinner Foundation website! My fellow Board of Directors and I are excited to see the impact your generous help will bring to those in need.
Over the years, I have had the honor of serving the community in many different areas. I was a member of the Board of Directors of the Lions Cub and President of Central Oklahoma Association of Deaf and Hearing Impaired.
I am excited to be currently serving as the President of Red Andrews Christmas Dinner Foundation. Along with this position, I serve as a board member of Metropolitan Fair Housing Council, board member of the Oklahoma Multi-Family Housing Association, and as legal counsel for the Apartment Association of Central Oklahoma.
Along with serving the community I have graciously received various awards and honors. Those awards are the Melvin Jones Fellowship, Oklahoma County Bar Association Community Service, and Oklahoma Bar Association Community Service awards.
- Robert Goldman
Ken Cassil, Vice President:
I am a lifelong OKC resident. I have been married to Jonna Cassil since 2002 and we have a 12 year old Jackson Cassil. I also have two older sons, Kenny III and Kane Cassil. Kenny and his wife Megan have two kids, my Granddaughter Dylan and Grandson Wilson. Kane is attending OU law school and will to graduate next year.
I attended and graduated from Putnam City High School in 1977 and graduated from OSU in 1980 with a degree in Public Affairs. I am currently the lease and rental manager at Bruckner Leasing Company in OKC and have been in the truck leasing industry for 22 years.
I have been on the board of the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner for 4 years. My grandmother Eva’s brother was red Andrews and my family has been involved in the dinner for all 70 years of its existence.
- Ken Cassil
Mary Blankenship-Pointer, Secretary Treasurer
In 1986, we had a bank client that was passionate about the Red Andrews’ Christmas Dinner. So passionate that every December he would march into the bank, and state we have everything that we need, and we must help those less fortunate in our community.
He insisted that everyone buy toys for the Red Andrews’ Christmas Dinner and he would return the following week to pick up the toys. Honestly, I had never heard of Red Andrews or the dinner, so I made it my mission to find why this kind gentleman was passionate about the dinner. After one visit, I was hooked for life!
- Mary Blankenship-Pointer