Boxed Dinners Are Delivered To Needy, Shut-Ins Throughout County

By BILL JONES

Staff Writer

Greene County church groups have again banded together to ensure that disadvantaged area residents receive Thanksgiving meals.

On Wednesday, about 20 churches took part in the fifth annual Northern Greene County Churches United in Love Ministry "Thanksgiving with Friends" effort.

Based at Union Temple Free Will Baptist Church on the Kingsport Highway in the Union Temple community, Wednesday's effort saw more than 800 Thanksgiving meals prepared and delivered to needy and shut-in residents of Greeneville and northern and eastern Greene County.

Today, members of other Greene County churches were scheduled to gather at Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the Newport Highway to package and deliver hundreds more Thanksgiving meals to needy and shut-in residents of Greeneville and western and southern Greene County.

Doug Cogburn, chairman of the Greene County Thanksgiving Outreach, said on Wednesday afternoon that his group had received orders for some 1,400 Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving Day.

Cogburn said 18 churches are taking part in the 14th annual Greene County Thanksgiving Outreach. Preparations for that event were scheduled to begin on Wednesday afternoon.

Volunteers were scheduled to report to the kitchen at Trinity United Methodist Church on Tusculum Boulevard to begin slicing some 450 pounds of turkey rolls in preparation for baking.

Cogburn said that other volunteers were scheduled to assemble at 5 p.m. Wednesday to transport a warming oven, steam tables and pans from Hardins Chapel United Methodist Church on Baileyton Road to Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the Newport Highway in preparation for today's meal preparation and delivery.

Volunteers were scheduled to return to Trinity United Methodist Church at 6 a.m. today to begin preparing turkey for delivery to Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

The Greene County Thanksgiving Outreach Web site also noted that delivery drivers should report to the Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian church sanctuary no later than 9:45 a.m. today.

"When you arrive at the church, the parking directors will tell you where to park so you can get out when needed," the Web site said.

Some 43 delivery routes have been planned for delivery of Thanksgiving meals. "They go everywhere from Bulls Gap to up into Washington County along the Erwin Highway," Cogburn said of the delivery routes.

About 100 people are expected to pick up meals at Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church today, while some people also are expected to eat at the church.

Cogburn said organizers hope to begin delivery of meals about 10 a.m., with deliveries to be completed no later than 1 p.m. today, according to the Web site.

Northern Greene Deliveries

On Wednesday, Pam McAmis, chairman of the Northern Greene County Churches United in Love Ministry, said more than 100 volunteers were involved in cooking, packaging and delivering Thanksgiving meals.

The meals, packaged in foam containers, consisted of turkey, dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cole slaw, homemade rolls and desserts.

About 250 pounds of turkey was cooked by church members, McAmis said.

All the foods included in the meals had been made in the homes of participating church members and brought to the activities building at Union Temple Free Will Baptist Church for packaging and delivery.

"We've about got the process down to a science after five years," McAmis said. "We've normally gotten here (the church) at 9 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving. Next year, I think we can wait until 10 a.m."

As McAmis spoke, volunteers passed foam containers from hand-to-hand down a line of folding tables, filling each with warm, home-cooked foods.

At the end of the line, the containers were placed in corrugated paper boxes and given to waiting drivers for delivery.

Linda Evans, the volunteer "route coordinator" for the northern Greene County meal-delivery effort, said 31 routes, with about 400 individual stops were required to get the meals to those who had placed orders for them.

The delivery routes ran as far northeast as southern Sullivan County, as far north as Baileyton and as far southeast as the Erwin Highway. Some routes also extended into Greeneville, Evans said.

Each route, she said, was staffed by a driver and an assistant who delivered the meals.

Some routes were as small as 10 or 12 meal stops, but others, such as the one staffed by David Hensley and his partner Ronnie Duncan, included 40 meals.

They said their route was generally along the Kingsport Highway, but had some stops as far away as the 107 Cutoff.

John Fox, publicity chairman for the effort, said that although the Northern Greene County Churches United in Love Ministry normally counts only nine churches among its members, more than 20 churches took part on Wednesday in the annual effort.