Thursday, November 21, 2013

I'm Excited About Tonight--Our Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Church!

I am so happy to be a member at a church that actually puts faith into action and helps and encourages its members to do the same by providing lots of opportunities.  I grew up in a very small church and had some reservations about joining a large church such as Parma Heights Baptist (800-900 Sunday morning attenders is large to me).  I was concerned that there would not be a need for my service.  I wanted a church where I could serve the Lord and be actively involved in ministry.  I did not need to be concerned because there are lots of opportunities to serve others at Parma Heights Baptist.

Tonight we as a church are inviting the community to attend a free Thanksgiving meal.  We did this last year and had about 250 attend but I was not involved.  This year, they said they needed more help because we are expecting around 500!  I am taking the day off so I can help with this and am so excited to see how we are going to feed that many people a good hot meal!  Don't worry, I am not one that will be in the kitchen cooking.  I will be waiting on tables so I hope I don't drop anything.  This morning, I will help set up.

This is a picture I took early Sunday morning of just one of the areas where we have sorted the food brought in by our members to give away to each family attending the dinner.  By the time I left, there was another area of tables set up right across from this that was full too.  Then last night, I saw another bunch of tables filled with groceries for the giveaway.



As of yesterday at noon, here is a list of what was brought in for tonight's community Thanksgiving dinner:
  • 2,825 items have been donated just for the food drive alone!
  • 214 people are currently signed up to help out in some way tomorrow night.
  • 117 pounds of potatoes will be peeled and mashed.
  • 60 pumpkin and apple pies will be consumed.
  • 14 twenty-three pound turkeys have given their lives. :-) Thanksgiving isn't fun and games for everyone!
Parma Heights Baptist Church's mission statement is "To help people find and follow Jesus Christ."  If you are seeking God or a place to worship and serve him in the Cleveland area, I invite you to come and join us.  Sunday services are at 8:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a..m.  Growth groups for all ages are at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

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4 comments:

BeadedTail said...

Hope everything goes smoothly! It's a wonderful thing to do for the community!

Sandee said...

This is fabulous Karen. We all need to give back to those in need. Bless all of you for doing this.

Have a blessed day. ☺

Unknown said...

Thanksgiving has many faces, and your smiles make for a good one. Watch out for that swinging door in/out of the kitchen. It's a dangerous place when you are carrying a tray loaded with food :)

Karen, author of MY FUNNY DAD, HARRY said...

They had the traffic flow routes well-planned (if people followed them--most did). In and out doors to the kitchen, in and out doors to the table area. The place was practically full by 6 p.m. (starting time), many arrived as early as 5:30!

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