Next week, teenagers from two Picayune churches will leave their own family tables and serve Thanksgiving dinner to those less fortunate.
Kim Bowens is the youth instructor at Pilgrim Bound Baptist Church and said this is the first year the group will be sponsoring this type of community outreach project.
“When our pastor retired, I inherited the class,” Bowens said. “We had a session during which we generated ideas about helping our community and a Thanksgiving dinner was the first one. We hosted a fundraiser to generate funds to buy the food.”
Joining the youth of Pilgrim Bound will be the young adults of Weems Chapel United Methodist Church.
Weems Chapel member Lynn Bogan Bumpers said when the congregation heard about the dinner, they decided to join in.
“Last year we hosted a dinner in honor of my son, Kema Keys through the Kema Keys Foundation,” Bumpers said.
The Foundation awards scholarships to local graduates and hosts community outreach projects.
The event is open to anyone that either has no family or anybody that wants to sit down and break bread, Bumpers said.
The Thanksgiving dinner menu includes turkey, ham, dressing, macaroni and cheese, greens, green beans, potato salad, rolls, cake and sweet potato pie.
The dinner will be held at Pilgrim Bound Baptist Church located at 921 Baylous Street on Thursday Nov. 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Transportation will be provided for those that qualify. If anyone would like more information about arranging transportation they may call Bowens at 601-346-1023 or Bumpers at 601-337-6000.
Bowens said the group will be delivering meals to the sick and homebound members of the churches.
Bumpers said it’s great to see young adults give up their own dinner to help others.
“They understand that a number of people don’t have families to sit down and have dinner with and it’s wonderful that they want to do this for them,” Bumpers said.
Bowens said the children are excited and also have a few more “brilliant” community projects up their sleeves.
“It’s exciting to see people so young want to give something so big,” Bowens said.