Some 850 people in Coahoma County received a Thanksgiving meal this year through the efforts of a mixture of volunteers and businesses as part of an outpouring of support that dates back nearly 40 years.
The Community Thanksgiving Meal was served up Thursday morning at The Care Station at 318 Delta Ave. in Clarksdale.
A mixture of old and young, white and black, formed lines as they filled 850 styrofoam containers with a tantalizing traditional turkey day feast. Once the containers were filled, they were handed out to a troop of volunteers who would fill their personal vehicles with the boxes and deliver the meals to homes throughout the county.
All together, there were approximately 150 people who had a hand in pulling off this year’s event.
The Rev. Dennis Hawkins has been involved with the Community Thanksgiving Meal for the past 35 years. He remembers when the event first started at a site near the current location of the Dutch Oven before it moved to the old Western Sizzlin’, which is the current site of the Hibachi Grill. It has been at The Care Station for the last several years.
Hawkins pointed to the example set by his mother, Rubin Hawkins, who oversaw a similar event in his hometown of Dublin for many years. Even as she lay in bed during her final days, it was her goal to rise and feed those less fortunate, Hawkins said. That image and his mother’s message stuck with him.
“It’s something I have a passion for,” Hawkins said, citing “blessed be they that give back.”
He said the event is a positive for a community that’s been shouldering a heavy load recently with a string of shootings that had left three dead in a span of 19 days.
“Not that we have forgotten about it, but to lay it aside just a second to come here and do this, is a blessing in itself,” Hawkins said.
The numbers served at this year’s event, while quite large, is down from previous meals due to the loss of one of the biggest contributors, Kroeger, which closed its Clarksdale store earlier this year.
The Community Thanksgiving Meal has a fund where donations can be made at any Planters Bank location throughout the year.
The cost of putting together the meal runs upwards of $3,000 and would be much higher if not for the reduced prices offered by local merchants and donations made by area businesses and individuals, who often provide desserts for the meals.
This year’s meal included turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans, yams, cranberry sauce, rolls and dessert.
Brenda Keith said the reason she volunteers year after year is simple.
“The good Lord gave us enough to where we don’t have to worry about it and we need to give to the people who are less fortunate than we are,” she said.
Fellow volunteer Lori Burchfield agreed, saying that “we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
She said that is her motto and passion and she strives to follow those words.
“Everybody can’t be here to do this, but everybody has a mission today, somewhere on the face of this earth,” Burchfield said. “Our family knows that we can’t eat at noon because we’re doing Care Station first. And a lot of people will say, ‘How can you do that and leave your family?’”
Standing in a still-bustling kitchen and surrounded by the many volunteers who had just served up more than 850 meals, Burchfield said, “I’m not leaving my family. It’s a family affair. We’re not family, but we are. We’re the family of God.”
