Around 30 volunteers added a little cheer to Thanksgiving when Pembroke United Methodist Church helped prepare meals Thursday for less fortunate residents in North Bryan.
Church members and other volunteers stepped up to the plate to help with the Thanksgiving Outreach Program, an effort the church has been putting together for more than 20 years, according to volunteer Rhetta Gibson.
Volunteers passed plates through assembly lines of green beans, corn, yams, turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie to fill more than 150 plates of hot food for people in the community. Gibson said a bakery also donated loaves of bread, cupcakes and other baked goods to hand out with the dinners.
Some dinners were delivered by church members to residents, but plates were also available for pick up at the church. Donna Craig of Pembroke was there to pick up dinners for the first time.
“United Way told me to give them a call and I came to pick up dinners for me and my two kids,” she said. “I think it’s great.”
Gibson said while the volunteers receive a lot of thanks during the event, the volunteers also feel thankful.
“A lot of people say we’re blessing other people, but really we’re the ones getting the blessing to be able to help someone,” she said.

Read more in the Nov. 24 edition of the News.