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by Mark Randall

JONESBORO — Teddy Johnson ate a THANKSGIVING lunch last year in St. Bernards Auditorium and was so thankful for the friendliness and caring that he decided to come again this year.

“Oh, man, I loved it,” Johnson said. “Thank God for everything. They’re good people. I enjoy it.”

Since he doesn’t have any family in the area, Johnson said, attending the community event was better than staying home by himself.

Don Harris was also by himself and heard about the meal from people at a local shelter.

“I heard they were going to serve a really good meal and that it was free for everyone,” Harris said. “Everyone who works here is wonderful. It takes good people to make everything run right.”

Volunteers from 16 area churches, the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and other agencies served up more than 900 hot THANKSGIVING dinners Thursday. Jim Grisham, one of several organizers, said they had more than 500 volunteers this year and delivered meals to about 600 homes.

“A lot of them I’ve seen for seven or eight years in a row,” Grisham said. “They keep coming back to help us, and we appreciate it.”

Grisham said they begin planning the event in August. Each church and organization contributes a different part of the meal.

“One church provided the turkey. One church provided the green beans. Another one provided the cranberry sauce. Others gave us the paper products,” Grisham said. “It’s about 15 churches who work to put this thing on.”

This is the 13th year that the organizations have come together for THANKSGIVING. Grisham has worked each year and said he enjoys spreading holiday cheer and meeting the people who come out to eat and volunteer.

“It needs to be done,” Grisham said. “It’s something that pulls the community together and is a way of giving something back to the community. We have a good community here so let’s give back to it.”

For Nancy McFarland, who attends Blessed Sacrament Church, it was not a question of “Why?”, it was a question of “Why not?”

“I enjoy the camaraderie and the ability to do for someone else when I have been so blessed,” McFarland said. “It’s a very good place to meet and greet and spend your holiday.”

Demetrius Flowers said he was just thankful for the meal and the chance to be around people who care.

“It’s pretty nice that they feed people who don’t have any,” Flowers said. “God is a good God, and it is a blessing.”

Gerald and Joyce Skaggs of Caraway had eaten here a few years ago and decided to come back again.

Gerald Skaggs, a Vietnam veteran, said he is thankful to live in the United States.

“There are people over in Iraq who are fighting to keep us free,” Skaggs said.

mrandall@jonesborosun.com