Thanksgiving: Family, Sharing & Gratefulness

Today, the congregation of St. William Catholic Church along with volunteers throughout our community will prepare and deliver more than 600 hot, cooked Thanksgiving meals to neighbors in need in Millington, North Memphis and Tipton County.

Just a bit of trivia to start with: The first Thanksgiving in America was celebrated between the Pilgrims and Native Americans in October of 1621, marking the Pilgrims first harvest. The first official U.S. “Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer” was declared by President George Washington on November 26,1789, and it was Abraham Lincoln who declared Thanksgiving Day a federal holiday in the midst of the Civil War in 1863.

Family, Sharing and Gratefulness

For most folks, particularly here in the South, where there are many amazing Southern cooks, Thanksgiving means a great meal, with my apologies to my friends on the East Coast who are devotees of oyster stuffing and my vegan friends who ascribe to tofu turkey…just no.

My mom, who was Japanese, learned to prepare a Thanksgiving meal from my many Southern aunts who are wonderful cooks. Today, more than a decade since my mamaw passed away, a Cooper Thanksgiving is celebrated at the Cooper cabin, a huge kitchen, built by my uncle Dale solely for the purpose of my large and extended family to share meals together. Our Thanksgiving is a quintessentially Southern one, with both turkey and ham, cornbread dressing (made in a pan, not stuffed inside the bird) and all the trimmings. Last year, maybe because my great-grandmother was Irish, I counted no less than six different dishes of potatoes, as well as macaroni and cheese, green beans (cooked with pork), and much more, along with desserts too numerous to count.

For several years before my mom passed away, my immediate, small family of three went to Thanksgiving dinner at The Helmsman Club on the Navy base. My dad enjoyed it because we always saw and visited with friends and neighbors there, and my mom enjoyed it, too, because she didn’t have to cook or clean up. The last picture I have of us together as a family is at Thanksgiving dinner there.

And, it’s where I will be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner this year, with my best friend and her family. Her mom is Japanese, too, and at 86, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. She wanted to have Thanksgiving at The Helmsman, and made a point to ask me to come along, At its heart, to me, Thanksgiving is about family, sharing and gratefulness. My best friend and I have known each other since we were children. We are only-children, and share Japanese moms and Southern, military dads, as the major common threads in our lives. She and her family are my family, too. We are so much more than friends, more like sisters, really. And for this, I am eternally grateful.

Feeding Our Neighbors

Continuing on the theme of sharing...While most businesses and churches are closed on Thanksgiving Day, St. William Catholic Church located on Easley Street is a busy place. Beginning at around 5:30 a.m. the kitchen in its Family Life Center is filled with provisions and volunteers preparing to cook and transport no less than 600 Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins and families in need in Millington, North Memphis and Tipton County, according to parishioner Bob Allen who spearheads the logistics of this effort, having taken over several years ago from church members Ruth Ann Olson and Jack & Gloria Sparks

The congregation has been offering this ministry of food and fellowship to neighbors in our city and the surrounding area for some 35 years. Allen stresses the key role Wendy Strevel plays, whom he calls “the kitchen queen,” overseeing the cooking of the meals. “She has a real passion for this.” He also notes the church’s Knights of Columbus and women’s club are very actively involved in this effort.plays, whom he calls “the kitchen queen,” overseeing the cooking of the meals. “She has a real passion for this.” He also notes the church’s Knights of Columbus and women’s club are very actively involved in this effort.

Similar to the “Meals on Wheels” program conducted by the Metropolitan Interfaith Association (MIFA), hot, cooked meals are hand-delivered. Allen is in charge of recruiting the approximately 20 drivers needed and mapping the routes.

Some 250 of the 600 meals prepared are delivered to and distributed by the nuns of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity who run a shelter for women and children and minister to neighborhoods in North Memphis.

The menu includes turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, a roll and dessert.

But Allen says, it’s much more than a meal. For many folks, the human contact and connection is just as important, if not more. He urges the volunteer drivers not just to drop-off the meals, but to take the opportunity to visit with folks, especially the shut-ins, who may not see visitors often.

“We have the skills, capability and means, and we’re driven by faith. It’s a labor of love and fun. I’m honored to be a part of it. I do so little. Everyone else works a lot harder. It’s a marvelous project,” Allen says.

He stresses this is an ecumenical and community-wide effort, with volunteers from other churches including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and First United Methodist Church, and companies such as Ingram-Micro and other individuals donating funds and their time as well. This morning, the MCHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes played a key role helping to peel and slice some 300 pounds of potatoes.

Strevel says she has been participating in this ministry since she was in the church youth group. As a teacher and administrator with Millington Municipal Schools she sees many low-income, working families struggling to make ends meet.

“This is one day out of the year we can come together and help someone.” She adds, “This is what community is about, pitching in and helping out, and we’ve expanded and continue to reach out.”

She stresses, “This is not just a ministry of the Catholic church. This is what Jesus has called us to do.”

St. William Catholic Church is located at 4932 Easley Street. For additional information, visit the church’s website at www.stwilliamcc.org or call (901) 872-4099.