Copperas Cove community comes together for pre-Thanksgiving meal Posted On: Sunday, Nov. 22 2009 05:37 AM By Alicia Lacy
Killeen Daily Herald

Young and old gather in the spirit of community, service and fellowship to break bread each year with the essence of the Thanksgiving holiday at the heart of the event held at the Copperas Cove Civic Center.

This year, the 12th annual Feast of Sharing drew hundreds for the community meal that was catered by the Yumm Factory Café in Lampasas.

The pre-Thanksgiving feast included turkey and ham with all the fixings and guests finished off with pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream.

Community

In a quick look around the Civic Center, old and young were observed working together serving plates and pouring drinks and sharing a meal as old friends chat and catch up.

"Many people meet here once a year," said Mike Blount of the Noon Exchange Club.

"I like seeing the diversity of people," said first-time volunteer Angela Colbert with the Copperas Cove Housing Authority. "It's not just the elderly. It's the young children, the middle-aged adults and the elderly, and they're all sitting down and talking together."

Leona Marshall began coming to the dinners with her mom who got tickets a few years ago. The event has become a tradition for her family and friends.

"It's when all of Cove comes together, and we consider Cove our family," Marshall said.

The feast is a chance to see friends and neighbors.

"We're a small community, and we want to keep our community connected with one another," Blount said. "People in this town are caring folks."

Service

Not only was the event an opportunity for the community to share a meal, but a way for many to give back to the community through their service.

"I've been living in Copperas Cove for a long time, and when it comes to doing stuff like this for the community and helping people at home, it makes me happy," Colbert said Thursday. "They had to make me sit down and eat."

Mayor John Hull said the event is good for the entire city.

"It gets people out to enjoy a meal, and I've seen people here tonight that I haven't seen in a while," he said Thursday.

"I'm impressed with the amount of help and the young people helping. It's outstanding," Hull said. "They don't put enough praise out there for young people."

Kristina Myers enlisted the help of her seven kids ranging in age from 9 to 15.

"Last year was the first year," Myers said.

Myers said the event is an opportunity for her children to "learn to do something for others." Her children all said they enjoyed being able to help people.

Volunteer Dorothy Brown with the Starzz program said this was her third year volunteering at the event.

Brown said the first time she volunteered was because her parents told her to, but she continues to volunteer "because I enjoy it."

Noon Exchange Club member Bill Minton has been volunteering with the event since 1999.

"The Noon Exchange Club is a community service organization, and this is one of the ways we give back," Minton said.

Members of the Starzz basketball program were one of the groups volunteering at the event Thursday.

Dorothy Lyons, co-director of the program said the event was a good way for the kids to learn about volunteerism.

"I love volunteering," she added.

History

The Feast of Sharing began in 1998.

According to records from the Noon Exchange Club, Terry McGraw, who was the manager of Walmart at the time, approached Bud Owsley, a council member, with ideas for a community project the store could participate in offering $3,000 for the event.

The result was a workshop where the council decided to co-sponsor a Thanksgiving dinner the Thursday before the holiday for low-income residents, the elderly and low-ranking military personnel and their families.

With Walmart providing items for the meal, Owsley, Paula Wallis and Elfriede Widup cooked the meal that served more than 300 people.

Employees of the city, members from the Noon Exchange Club, Boy and Girl Scouts and other organizations in the community volunteered for the first event.

"It was initially for the elderly, and it's evolved and grown because we opened it up to everybody," Blount said.

In order to accommodate to the event's growth, organizers made a decision three years ago to have the event catered.

"We've had as many as 500," Blount said about the attendance to the meal.

Entertainment used to be provided every year, but Blount said organizers learned that people would rather "do what they're doing now – talking to each other."

The HOP bus system provides transportation for those at the Copperas Cove Housing Authority and Sunshine Home Apartments and the Boys and Girls Club provides transportation for home-bound or those without transportation.

The Noon Exchange Club funds a portion of the meal and the city funds a portion with the city providing the facility, Ken Wilson, city's director of community services said.

"It's a great opportunity for the city to provide additional services to the citizens of Copperas Cove in the spirit of the holiday season," Wilson said.