Local churches hosting long-standing tradition of free Thanksgiving Day meals
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Emily Smith has her hands full of turkey for the next plate down the line at Thursday morning’s Thanksgiving dinner program at Fairview Baptist Church in Valley. With assembly line precision, volunteers filled 180 plates and had them out the door well before noon. On the left is Pat Hamilton and at right are Emily’s mom, Missy Smith; Donna Lee and Denisa Bell. Thursday morning was also a busy day at Plant City Baptist Church, where a similar number of plates were put together and distributed throughout the Valley. --Wayne Clark
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Two local churches that have long been providing free Thanksgiving Day meals to the local community will be carrying on this long-time tradition again this year.
Plant City Baptist in Lanett and Fairview Baptist in Valley have each been doing this for many years and are planning to do it again this year.
“We do this for people in our community who need food on Thanksgiving,” Courtney Sanders said of the Plant City Baptist effort. ‘You can call the church at (334) 644-1616 or go to a link on the church’s Facebook page to be put on our list. We usually prepare around 120 plates each year. The plates will be ready around 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. You can come by the church to pick it up or we will deliver to your home.”
Each plate will have turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, a souffle and a slice of cake.
The cut off date to be put on the list is on the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Fairview Baptist pioneered the local effort to do this and has continued it for more than 30 years now. The women of the church do all the cooking, and the church’s family life center is a very busy place on Thanksgiving morning. Members of the church form a line to put each plate together. To reserve a plate, call the church at (334) 756-3746 or email fairviewbaptistchurch@gmail.com to be put on the list. You can go by to pick up your plates on Thanksgiving morning or they can be delivered to you.
Each plate will have turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle, green beans and a slice of pound cake.
