A lot of giving

Philanthropic power couples Steve and Joan Belkin and Ted and Joan Cutler teamed up to distribute turkeys to local families yesterday at Boston Medical Center. But the food pantry giveaway was just a warm-up for last night's 14th annual Food for Thought dinner, a benefit for the BMC's Grow Clinic for Children. Held at Jody Adams's Rialto restaurant at the Charles Hotel, the swanky dinner was expected to raise more than $1 million for local care. . . . The peerless Pats passed out Thanksgiving baskets yesterday at Goodwill Industries. In conjunction with Shaw's Supermarkets and Willow Tree Farm, gridiron gods Benjamin Watson, Kyle Eckel, Kevin Faulk, Ty Warren, and owner Robert Kraft handed out food baskets filled with turkeys and all the trimmings to 200 families.

Senator Ted Kennedy and Governors Deval Patrick and Michael Dukakis joined their wives yesterday in reading portions of "My Dearest Friend," a collection of correspondence between John Adams and his wife, Abigail. The book, which includes 289 letters, was a two-year labor of love by editors C. James Taylor and Margaret Hogan of the Massachusetts Historical Society, where the Adams Papers are kept.

Boston's Elder Statesman of the Blues Weepin' Willie Robinson caught up with Natalie Merchant backstage at the "Give Us Your Poor" concert at the newly reopened Strand Theatre on Friday. Robinson, an 81-year-old former resident of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, is scheduled to join James Montgomery onstage at the Boston Music Awards on Dec. 1 at the Orpheum Theatre.

Tom Ashbrook, host of WBUR's talk show "On Point," is at home recovering from heart bypass surgery that will keep him off the air until Jan. 2. The radio guru felt chest pain while raking leaves a couple of weekends ago, and after some tests, went in for surgery. "[The surgery] was successful. It went well," Sam Fleming, the FM station's program director, told us yesterday. . . . In other radio news, Christopher Lydon is back on the air - in a way. Now a fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute, the longtime radio host is making new segments and interviews available through iTunes. The podcast-only show is dubbed "Open Source at the Watson Institute."

Bruce Springsteen's concert Sunday night - the first of two at the TD Banknorth Garden - attracted quite a few notables. Both NBC anchor Brian Williams and Peter Wolf were spotted backstage. Amid the throngs of fans were congressman Patrick Kennedy, and Channel 5 newsgal Susan Wornick, who was with a group of friends. After Sunday night's concert, E Street Band-mate Steven Van Zandt took a group of 10 for a late-night nosh at Davio's in Park Square.

Congrats to City Councilor John Tobin and his wife, Kate, on the birth of their second child, Daniel Joseph Plunkett Tobin. The newest addition to the West Roxbury family arrived yesterday afternoon and weighed in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Daniel has a big brother, Matthew, who is 17 months old.

The Bay State has a representative for the Miss USA 2008 pageant. Jackie Bruno of Freetown was crowned Miss Massachusetts USA on Sunday. A Boston University grad, Bruno receives a package of prizes worth $30,000, according to pageant organizers. Recent titleholders include Shawnae Jebbia (1998) and Susie Castillo (2003), both of whom went on to win the Miss USA title and represent the country at the Miss Universe competition. Also crowned at the event in Quincy was Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 2008, Caroline Lunny.

"30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin stopped by the American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training the other day, sharing stories about working in the biz and doing imitations of other actors. Baldwin recently shot scenes for "Bachelor No. 2," a Boston-set comedy starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson.

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