Volunteers deliver homemade Thanksgiving meals to elderly, disabled

Judy Sjoquist is usually the first to arrive and the last to leave the Lutheran Church Of The Redeemer in Macon on Thanksgiving Day.

The retired paralegal is in charge of Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels, an annual event at her church when members and community volunteers gather to package and deliver hot meals for homebound elderly and the disabled.

“I’m here at the crack of dawn,” the 77-year-old Sjoquist said with a laugh.

The Lutheran Church Of The Redeemer and about a half dozen other churches mobilize volunteers to deliver homemade Thanksgiving meals to about 450 individuals and families in Macon-Bibb, said Javonna Latimer, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels of Middle Georgia.

The agency is closed on the holidays.

“We’re closed on those days, but we have eyes and ears out in the community that are checking on our clients,” Latimer said. “It means a lot to them — providing them with a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal.”

Thursday morning, Sjoquist was busy in the church kitchen whipping up mashed potatoes and heating up turkeys, gravy and green beans. Church members had cooked the turkeys earlier and dropped them off at the church, along with all sorts of pies.

Her friend, Pat Ussery, joined her in the kitchen to pour the gravy into small containers.

“She is the one who got me to come to the church for the first time,” Sjoquist said of Ussery.

A longtime divorcee, Sjoquist said she always has had a strong faith but shied away from church because she often felt lonely. But at the Lutheran Church Of The Redeemer, Sjoquist said she found a family within the congregation.

“It just feels like family all the time,” she said.

Sjoquist also found a place of service — first in the Thanksgiving ministry and later as the church’s assistant administrator, a voluntary position.

Sjoquist moved to Macon from Minnesota and later retired from the job that brought her here. Her family is in upstate New York or on the West Coast.

She usually sees her family at Christmas, but not at Thanksgiving.

Her first Thanksgiving at the church seven years ago, Sjoquist said she volunteered to help.

After the first year, she took charge of the Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels event.

“I have friends that go annually for Thanksgiving to the Macon Rescue Mission and help dish out dinners,” Sjoquist said. “But we don’t do that. We take care of the Meals on Wheels. That’s our way of giving back.”

Sjoquist works hard to make sure the meals are just right.

The cranberry sauce is placed in a small container to ensure it doesn’t discolor the mashed potatoes. Aluminum foil separates the bread from the rest of the meal to keep the bread from becoming soggy.

Most of the volunteers man the assembly line.

The food is set out on tables. One group of volunteers lines up with large plastic containers and moves down the line as the other group dishes out the turkey, the dressing, the mashed potatoes, green beans and so on.

Other volunteers put the large containers into plastic shopping bags and add a slice of pie and a note from the church wishing the recipient, “Happy Thanksgiving and God bless.”

As the meals are assembled, volunteers start to head out two by two to deliver the meals. One drives, and the other takes the meal to the door.

Cathy Riordan said she volunteered to fill in for her daughter, a church member, who was participating in the 10th Annual Turkey Trot race in McDonough.

“I wish we could do this every day,” said Riordan, who sliced pies and put them into containers. “It’s such a basic thing.”

Her daughter, Kathleen Burt, arrived after the race to also help because, “Its a good cause.”

Mike Hall, who’s not a member of the church but heard about what they were doing, said he wanted “to put a smile on someone’s face.”

Wayne and Gwen Kirby, who go to another church, also volunteered.

“We like to be out with people,” he said.

In no time, the meals were assembled and sent out to be delivered. Volunteers were expected to make it home by noon to join their families for Thanksgiving.

“I just want to say thank you,” Sjoquist told volunteers before dismissing them. “... It just makes my heart feel good.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2019 at 2:56 PM.