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By: Hunter Riggall

After stepping away from providing holiday meals to those in need due to health reasons, Jake Sessions is once again collaborating with others in the community to distribute grocery boxes ahead of Thanksgiving.

Sessions has helped organize “Up All Night” for years. A few years ago, Jimmy Edwards took the event over, which later rebranded as Community Dinner. 

Edwards decided not to organize a large feeding event this year due to COVID-19 concerns.

Sessions has stepped back in and is asking people to donate groceries this year, instead of cooking due to COVID-19. 

A large cooking staff or crowd of people eating would make it difficult to ensure safety, but boxes of food can be given out before the holiday in a drive-thru style event.

Up All Night is asking for turkeys, hams and canned goods to prepare the boxes. Food can be dropped off at Lakes-Dunson-Robertson Funeral Home in LaGrange or Corey’s Hair Salon in West Point. The deadline to drop off food is Sunday, Nov. 22.

Money can also be donated via Cash App at $upallnight4u or in person at CenterState Bank under the name Alverta Pearson, Sessions’ sister.

Volunteers will help assemble the donations and organize them into boxes.

Sessions said he hopes that they can give away about 800-1,000 boxes.

GetFed Inc. is also hosting a Thanksgiving feeding on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. The event will be at Immanuel Ministries, located at 135 Buena Vista Ave, and organizers hope to feed about 300 people.