By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Local generosity was demonstrated Wednesday when a local church and the Salvation Army came together and distributed 250 Thanksgiving dinners to local families in need.
Orderly lines of grocery bags waited along with stacks of turkeys, pies, rolls and bottles of soft drinks in the Bluefield Salvation Army’s gymnasium while recipients lined up outside.
(Bluefield Daily Telegraph photo by Eric DiNovo)
“We’re giving out 250 meals,” Margaret Kirby, whose husband is Pastor David Kirby of the Deliverance Temple Church in Brushfork said. “That’s the whole turkey, pie, drinks, vegetables and potatoes. It’s everything they need to make a Thanksgiving meal.”
Members of the church helped organize and distribute the donations. The Kroger store in Bluewell helped provide the food for this year’s distribution, Margaret Kirby said.
Glowie Myers of Bluefield, Va., who is a member of Deliverance Temple, said there were many good reasons to help those in need have a happy Thanksgiving.
“To show love and to help the people who don’t have enough to eat,” she said.
“We just want to give back and help the community as much as we can,” added Melanie Burnette, whose husband, Shannon, is the church’s youth pastor.
People were soon leaving the Salvation Army with loaded bags of food.
“We’re thankful for our partnership with the Deliverance Temple,” Lt. Gene Hunt of the Bluefield Salvation Army said. “At least a thousand people will be fed with these meals, and we’re just grateful to live in such a giving community.”
Volunteers helped recipients carry Thanksgiving food to their vehicles. For many, the show of generosity was the only way they could experience the holiday this year.
“We wouldn’t be having a Thanksgiving,” said a woman who declined to give her name. “This will help give us a dinner. I’m a single mother with three kids, and it’s hard to get by.”
— Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
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