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Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

Thanksgiving dinner feeds more than 1,000 at Houston Mall

WARNER ROBINS — Eddie Brooks chose a feast with hundreds at the Houston Mall over a quiet meal alone at home for Thanksgiving.

While many who came to the Houston Mall on Thursday afternoon were there because they couldn’t afford a lavish turkey day spread, Brooks said she sought camaraderie.

“I don’t like being alone for the holidays,” said Brooks, who moved to Warner Robins from Atlanta and said she has no family in the area. “When I heard about this event, I figured it would be a great way to be around other people from Warner Robins. Plus, I didn’t feel like cooking.”

Isadora Thomas said the event, in its first year at the Houston Mall, aims to feed people who live in the area, regardless of their general need.

“This is a day that has been set aside for Thanksgiving,” said Thomas, whose husband, the Rev. John H. Thomas, is among the event’s many organizers. “We’re grateful to be able to serve, in this capacity, everyone in need, whether they’re just coming to socialize or for the food.”

The Rev. Thomas said the event is a large-scale version of what he’d done for years with his group, Community Outreach Service Center. For years the group, a nonprofit which serves the city in various social-service capacities, served meals to about three-dozen people on the holiday.

Last year, the group fed more than 500 people on the lawn at New Song Missionary Baptist Church, where he’s the pastor. This year, with the help of other local pastors, business owners and residents, the group set out to feed more than 1,200.

“It’s just the community coming together, giving thanks,” Thomas said.

Though it fed just more than 1,000 people, he said every person fed is one who was in need in some way, shape or form.

“It’s real gratifying just to know we could help somebody,” he said. “Some people didn’t know where they were going to eat. This shows what can happen when people come together, even in (economic) times like these.”

Thomas said volunteers also picked up people wanting to attend the feast. They also made and delivered plates to residents who were unable to physically attend.

Those in attendance were able to hear words from Mayor John Havrilla, who praised the event’s organizers for what they were doing for the community. Mayoral candidate Chuck Shaheen stopped and talked with different people as he and his wife made their way around the mall. Mayoral candidate Chuck Chalk also roamed the halls. Linda Carnes, a candidate for City Council, donned a surgical mask as she shelled out brownies and pound cake.

Nora Reese, the executive director of a group home she started through her Dusk to Dawn Ministries, brought about 35 of the home’s residents so they could give thanks for their blessings and enjoy the camaraderie and the food. She also said it was good for them to mingle with the less fortunate and participate in an event that was doing so much for the city.

“If a lot of people weren’t having Thanksgiving dinner here, they wouldn’t be having it at all,” she said.

To contact writer Marlon A. Walker, call 256-9685.