Thousands expected at community Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner is getting bigger and better by the year in Mooresville.
The Mooresville Community Thanksgiving Meal will make its third appearance to serve anyone in need of food and fellowship on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 22. It’s all free.
But this year, there’s a new twist. In addition to its primary location at First Baptist Church in downtown Mooresville, the event has also branched out to include two satellite locations.
Meals will be served at First Baptist from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and at Mooresville Intermediate School (courtesy of Redeemer’s Light United Methodist Church) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both sites will include sit down, delivery, and carry-out meals.
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on Cornelius Road will be offering carry-out and delivering meals only from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This year’s event will serve over a half ton of food, be staffed by more than 250 volunteers, and will donate 100% of any leftover food and supplies to the Mooresville Soup Kitchen or church partners.
Bruce Wilson, the chair of the event, said the idea for the project originally came from the annual tradition of offering Thanksgiving dinner at Mooresville’s Sweet Fire Bar-B-Q restaurant.
When the restaurant closed, the singles group Bible study from Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church decided to make a go of it on their own. That first event in 2005, said Wilson, had the support of a few area churches, and had to be organized pretty quickly - the group first came together to plan in September.
The result was a Thanksgiving dinner that, while a little rough around the edges, was successful: The group was able to serve approximately 750 people at Williamson’s Chapel.
Last year, said Wilson, “we figured out how to do it better.” The event, he said, was more centrally located at First Baptist and served approximately 950 people.
This year, he said, they are even more prepared: They hope to serve as many as 2,000 people. As a result, the laundry list of people who have come together to make the event a success has grown even longer. The “driving force” is still the singles ministry group from Williamson’s Chapel, he said, but the Soup Kitchen and the Mooresville Christian Mission, and area churches are offering “key assistance” for the event, as well as a number of individuals and members of the private sector.
“We’ve learned from experience,” Wilson said.
What they’ve also learned, he said, is the event’s tremendous potential to bring people together to celebrate the holiday.
“We want people to come for fellowship, if they are alone and want company, if they are financially strapped, for whatever reason,” he said.
The meal, he said, will also be offering more of a “restaurant atmosphere” this year, complete with tablecloths.
“It will be fun,” he said.
While the event is already well-staffed - Wilson said that all of the volunteer slots have filled up - organizers could still use a little monetary support. Donations can be sent to the Mooresville Christian Mission, Box 62, Mooresville, NC 28115 or delivered to their location at 100 Beam Drive. All checks should be made out to the Christian Mission and itemized “Thanksgiving Project.”
First Baptist Church of Mooresville is located at 150 S. Church St. Mooresville Intermediate School is located at 233 Kistler Farm Road. St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is located at 1037 Cornelius Road. For more information, call 704-664-3680, extension 218, or visit http://www.mooresvillethanksgiving.org
By Megan Pillow
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