Jamal Hinton, Wanda Dench celebrate 10 years since viral mistaken Thanksgiving text brought them together

Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench kicked off a viral Thanksgiving tradition 10 years in the making thanks to a mistaken text.

After a last-minute mistaken text invite first brought them together in 2016, Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench’s viral Thanksgiving tradition is reaching a major milestone.

This year marks the 10th time the unlikely duo will sit down and share a meal for the November holiday—and they’re celebrating big with a new partnership with Green Giant.

“Ten Thanksgivings ago, a simple text brought us together. This year, we’re celebrating a decade of friendship,” Hinton, 26, wrote on Instagram, announcing the collaboration.

He added that the brand is marking its own centennial—100 years of “bringing people together.” According to a release, Green Giant will host the Thanksgiving feast alongside Hinton and Dench this year.

“I am so grateful we’re able to continue to get together. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that mistaken text,” Dench, 68, said in the release. “For us, the holidays are all about connections and making memories. Sharing our 10th year—alongside Green Giant’s 100th anniversary—makes this year feel especially meaningful.”

The viral annual tradition first began in 2016 after Dench, then in Arizona, mistakenly texted Hinton, then 17, inviting him to her Thanksgiving dinner that year. After she realized her error—and also that he had no plans—she notably said the offer to attend still stood. Hinton took her up on it and has been spending the holiday with her family ever since.

Their first serendipitous encounter quickly went viral online, moving people all over the world with its simple show of human kindness. It’s always struck people how two total strangers were able to connect so naturally—that not only was he in need of a place to go, but he was met with an effortless warmth and openness that felt meant to be.

Their story has since inspired millions and even caught Hollywood’s attention: a Netflix movie about their friendship is currently in the works.

This year also marks their second major partnership. In 2023, Dench and Hinton teamed up with Airbnb to give the opportunity to win a chance to have Thanksgiving dinner with them. 

“I felt like almost since the first year we were a family,” Hinton said during an interview with NBC News in 2024.

Over the years, they’ve continued to warm hearts with their annual updates, even as their families and lives have changed. Since the tradition began, Dench’s husband, Lonnie, died in 2020 due to COVID-19 complications early on in the pandemic, and in October 2024, she revealed she had been undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Hinton rallied support for her at the time through his growing platform and even took over hosting duties for a change.

Through all the transformation—and even a virtual Thanksgiving last year on account of Dench’s treatments—they’ve managed to keep the tradition alive.

“I feel like if I’d never met her, I’d have a piece of me missing in a weird way,” Hinton told NBC News. “I would have never known what that piece was, but I feel like that piece of me is filled.”