Church of Christ feeds 750 on snowy Christmas Day
Hartselle Church of Christ didn’t let sub-freezing temperatures and a three-inch snowfall get in the way of it feeding dinner to 750 people on Christmas Day.
“Members of the congregation began bringing in food they had prepared earlier at home at 9:30 a.m., with serving and delivery volunteers already in place. Within an hour takeout dinners were on their way to Decatur and by noon the remainder had been delivered.
The takeouts consisted of chicken and dressing, broccoli, rice and cheese casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, roll and dessert.
“There was never any question about going on with the dinner because the food had already been prepared and we had plenty of volunteers to get the job done,” said Tim Nelson project co-coordinator.
Tim and his wife Jeri suggested a Christmas dinner outreach project to Phillip Hines, the church’s minister, three years ago.
“We would always get up early on Christmas Day for kids and have a big dinner, and we always had more food than we needed,” Nelson said. “We thought what better way to show your children a good example than to share a meal with someone who may not have a delicious, hot meal that day.”
“I told them to go for it,” Hines said, “and they and many others in our church family have done that and much more.”
“The first year we prepared and delivered dinners to 250 people,” Nelson said, “and the number was increased to about 600 the second year. We get names and addresses from Meals on Wheels, our own members and other sources, and the list continues to grow.”
As a guide to church members who are willing to participate, food pans, recipes and other pertinent information are distributed in early December and lists are compiled to ensure that enough of the right food is prepared and ready to serve on Christmas morning.
This year, Christmas dinners went to Meals on Wheels recipients, on-duty law enforcement and fire department personnel, residents of assistant living facilities as well as others recommended by church members.
“When we started this project we didn’t realize that we have so many people who don’t have a hot meal on Christmas,” Nelson stated. “Now that we know, the level of support our congregation is giving to make the project successful is unbelievable.”
Getting takeout boxes of food ready for delivery, from left, are Taylor Nelson, Jerrie Swann, Denise Wigginton, Betty Proctor, Dee Proctor and Tom Sneed.
Dr. Andy Dukes, Chris Burgess and Cooper Wigginton (L to R) load the truck of a car with 75 meals for residents of Summer Manor in Decatur.
Mallory Nelson, left, and Pam Brown serve takeout food boxes with chicken and dressing and broccoli and rice casserole.
Project co-chairman Tim Nelson checks a delivery list before the Christmas dinners are loaded for transport to their recipients.
