Community Harvest Outreach feeding more than 300 families
By From staff reports
Published in News on November 23, 2014 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/DENNIS HILL
Volunteers, from right, Gwen Massenburg, Monica Edwards, Ann Harrison and Brenda Bryant, help prepare meals at the Community Crisis Center on Saturday.
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Community Harvest Outreach will feed more than 300 needy families at Thanksgiving, thanks to the support of dozens of local businesses and churches.
The ministry held its third annual harvest festival Saturday at the HGDC Community Crisis Center on Slocumb Street, with hundreds of people in attendance.
Thomas Spruill, who founded the ministry, said it has grown each year.
"The Good Lord just came in and took over," he said.
His wife, Sandra, said the event would not be possible except for the sponsors, who put up the money for the food. The organization served not only lunch on Saturday, but sent every family home with a box complete with Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings for a holiday meal. She said her husband started the ministry as a way to give back to the community.
Families are recommended by social workers and school counselors.
The event had been held at Woods Chapel Church for two years but outgrew the facility.
Eldress Cynthia Worrell of White Oak Grove Free Will Baptist Church in Pikeville said the outreach is aimed at meeting the needs of as many families as possible at the holidays.
"You get the satisfaction of knowing people really do appreciate it," she said. "That warms your heart."