HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Hopewell Baptist Church opened its doors for a free Thanksgiving meal for the community Wednesday night. Church members prepared enough turkey and dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes and desserts for 350 people. Minutes after opening the doors at 5 p.m., the fellowship hall was full.
This is the third year Hopewell has offered a Thanksgiving meal to its neighbors. Many families chose to dine in and enjoy a time of fellowship while others grabbed meals to go. Some difficult decisions were being made at the dessert table filled with homemade cakes and pies.
Ruth Edmondson’s Coca-Cola cake was a wise choice; she joked, “I put nuts in it because I’m nuts.”
This year, six turkeys, 14 pounds of dressing, 9 pounds of sweet potatoes and 24 gallons of green beans went into serving the meal.
Pastor Layne Howard and his wife Kathy were pleased with the community response.
“I don’t know what the count has been today, but I think we have had a great turnout,” said Kathy Howard. “We will be here until we run out of food. We enjoy it.”
“Hopewell does stuff like this all the time,” said church member Victoria Capps. “This is a good way to bring people in and show that we are not just Wednesday night and Sunday morning. We are a church that wants to give back to our community.”
Hopewell’s music minister Danny Love entertained guests from the piano. He and wife Amber were welcomed to the church in early October and have since welcomed their new baby girl, 2-week-old Ella Grace.
The church will have a Christmas Cantata Dec. 22.
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