Letter: Community Thanksgiving Dinner serves 875 meals

Dear Editor:

Once again, we executed the Community Thanksgiving Dinner with no walk rounds, no phone calls, due to safety issues. We served 875 meals out the door and into each vehicle with a minimum of contact, thus protecting the volunteers and the recipients from the recent outbreak of new strains of viruses. As always, we got the job done. That 875 does not include the buckets of food we sent out because we ran out of to go boxes. Over 300 of the meals were sent to outlying areas.

Amy and John Nantz kept an eye on the serving line making it a smooth and workable process and giving us an edge on getting the meals out the door quicker. Gabbie Hodgkiss and Lisa Hicks supervised the filling of the dessert and roll boxes and helped keep the meals rolling out the door. I didn’t get the name of the man working the door, but he did a fantastic job. Great-grandson, Sylas Stevens, helped dip and serve the cranberry sauce.

The kitchen crew, Eric Stevens, Jimmy and Chris Draper, had the normal flow of the kitchen back this year and managed to keep things moving in an orderly and efficient manner, keeping the cans open, the pans filled and hot is a monumental job and they make it look easy. Tamara Draper was back this year, and McKinsey even made an appearance with her sweet baby daughter.

Without help from local organizations and churches in the Sikeston community, this meal wouldn’t be possible. The American Legion, Food Giant and the United Way furnished the turkeys, Lambert’s, Jays, Burch Foods donated rolls, The Christian Academy, National Honor Society and YMCA of Southeast Missouri held can drives, individuals, churches, and organizations in the community donated gift cards to help purchase supplies. The VFW donated the use of their building. First Baptist Church allowed us the use of big pots. A special thanks to Shady Acres and Miner Baptist for their generous donations. May God heap blessings on all of you.

The volunteers are awesome. Amy Nantz and her daughter, Erin, chopped onions and celery at home, then took the buns and corn meal home and mixed it with the food processor, added sage and brought it back the next day, ready to mix as dressing. Amy and Erin did a fine job of mixing up the dressing. Thank you to the four high school volunteers and the mother with three tiny daughters who showed up on Wednesday to de-bone turkeys, lay out ham and chop eggs and giblets. … Also, our thanks to Chester Kordahl who cooks the turkeys for us and manages to get them to the VFW. The spirit of giving is alive in Sikeston and it includes the youth; that is a blessing in itself.

Thanks to Lisa Hicks who takes care of cutting and boxing the desserts and rolls. She also helped in other areas. Some of you may know her from the OAKS Center. Just want her to know she is appreciated for all she does. A special thanks to Lydia Hodgkiss and Noah Lowe who take care of Morehouse to Kathy Harrington who sees to Haywood City and to Pam Sloan Lowe’s mom and her crew for taking care of Wendell Apartments. They have been with this mission for years and are dedicated volunteers.

This community always steps up to the plate and answers the call, fills the need. Each of us is here for a reason. We impact each others’ lives in some way, no matter how small. I am so glad I was able to be a part of this mission, to be able to carry on this endeavor, to be able to share the blessings, to impact people in ways we may never be aware of, for the past 20 years.

To all of you who volunteered or gave donations. Thank you! You’re the best. You stay dedicated to this mission year after year. God bless each and every one of you who helped in any way. You are what makes the meal a success every year, regardless of how many meals are served.

Once again, it was a great Thanksgiving celebration feast and I am handing the reins off to the VFW, hopefully, with the help of the American Legion. I may help as a volunteer, depending on my health.

Marlene Stevens,

Community Thanksgiving Dinner coordinator