In Rapid City, S.D., Valley Community Church plans to serve 100 Thanksgiving meals to community members Nov. 20 in the second year of the church outreach, this year in partnership with the Rapid Valley Fire Department. Event spokesman Bill Resterer said he has managed to work around supply chain disruptions. He served 50 people in 2020, but had to turn away 13 cars.
“I planned ahead of time and our local grocery stores worked with me again on things like ham,” he said. “It’s a simple little dinner that we’re putting together. We got it all.”
Resterer said God laid it on his heart to start the food program last year, but he said he doesn’t see much of a hunger problem in the community. Rapid City had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent in September, less than half the national rate of 4.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At Cornerstone, community and church partners are key to the program’s livelihood, with Park City Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Richardson, and Valley Ranch Baptist Church among partners.
“It’s really a true community partnership,” Simmons said, “of us working with our churches in North Dallas to meet the need.” The church distributed 200 baskets in 2019 and served about 800 meals on Thanksgiving, Simmons said, but the need doubled in 2020 and has remained steady.
Simmons will shop early for Christmas dinner supplies, storing frozen supplies in the church’s large-capacity, walk-in freezer.
The church is plentiful in volunteers.
“We are in a unique situation,” Simmons said. “Because of our connection with our Baptist churches, we have a network through our association. Actually, for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner, we literally have to limit the number of volunteers … because we get so many people wanting to serve on those days. We reserve those days for only our partner churches.”
This article originally appeared here.
