People for People gets it done

Quite often during the holiday season we see requests for donations to this cause or that one, but its only natural to wonder if the donation you’re making really goes where it will do the most good.

We’ll be taking a deeper look into poverty in Hot Springs County over the next month or so, but for now let’s look at what People for People did for our community during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

As most of you know, People for People holds a free Thanksgiving meal as well as a free Christmas meal at the Episcopal Church every year. In order to make that happen, there is a lot of work and a lot of donations that go on before the cooking even starts.

Audrey Philips, the coordinator for the meals, said about 200 people were served either in the church or had meals delivered at Thanksgiving, and the Christmas meal saw similar numbers.

Philips puts out a list of necessities to the People for People teams and they fill that list as best they can through donations.

For Thanksgiving, the requests included eight turkeys, a case of stuffing, 10 pounds of green bean casserole, a case of mashed potatoes, a case of sweet potatoes and 12 pies along with other assorted desserts and about eight different salads, rolls and other items.

The list is the same for the Christmas meal with the addition of three hams and two more turkeys.

One team comes in at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day to get things started. By 10 a.m. the turkeys and other food begins arriving and two boxes are prepared for the approximate 70 meals that will be delivered – one with hot items like mashed potatoes, meat, gravy and green beans, along with a second box filled with pie, rolls and butter and cranberry sauce.

By 11:30 a.m. three more teams of volunteers arrive to deliver those meals to folks who aren’t able to come to the church to eat.

Those coming to partake of the meal begin arriving well before noon and find their seat, family style, before the festivities begin.

The serving line is filled with friendly faces and everyone is well fed before things are over at 2 p.m. For those who are alone or cannot afford a holiday meal, this is an amazing time to make new friends and go home with a smile on their faces.

Clean up teams are the next to take over, scrubbing pots and pans and tables as well as all the plates and silverware used for the day.

People for People have the system down to a science and they always manage to get everyone taken care of, even if it means running to the basement for more veggies to heat up in a pinch.