Plenty of help, plenty of food

Dozens of volunteers came together on Thanksgiving day at the Memorial building to prepare, serve and deliver food for the Community Thanksgiving in Portales.

Now in its 12th year, the Community Thanksgiving effort is as strong as ever.

link Derek Major: Portales News-Tribune

Volunteers map out driving schedules Thursday to deliver food to those who couldn’t make it to the annual free Thanksgiving dinner at the Memorial Building. Volunteers delivered over 100 meals in Portales throughout the day, in addition to around 200 served on-site.

We had a wide variety of people volunteering,” said Berni Cordova, one of the organizers of the effort. “From youth groups at churches and even some people from Cannon. We also have people from different organization around town.

More than 100 meals went out for delivery and more than 200 people came to dine throughout the afternoon. Kelli Morrison mapped out the routes for delivery and for her, giving back to those who do not have as much as her is something she takes seriously.

“It’s a great cause,” Morrison said. “I’m so blessed in my own life and thankful for the things that I have that I think I would be remiss not to be helping out other people who don’t have as much as I do during the holiday season.”

Due to donations from the public and volunteers, there was more than enough food to go around.

“We had 28 turkeys donated and we had more people bring in turkeys that were already cooked.” said Cordova. “We have more than enough food.”

In addition to turkey, the food served included stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pie. Adrian Flores, 9, of Portales made his first visit to the Memorial Building and had nothing but positive remarks about the food.

“The food was good,” Flores said. “I liked the pie.”

Timothy Smith is an ENMU student, who has volunteered at the Community Thanksgiving for years.

“I got to University Baptist Church and we’ve participated in this for several years now,” Smith said. “It really is amazing, the people really come together from across the community and its something that is encouraging to see. People often put emphasis on the fact that the town has so many different denominations and that we’re not a cohesive unit and this effort proves it.”

A band played music throughout the event and people also donated clothes that anyone could go through and take what they needed. Morrison believes the Community Thanksgiving shows that the City of Portales cares.

“Thanksgiving is a special time and a time for family, friends and community,” Morrison said. “This is a great outreach from several religious organizations and other groups to give people a place to come if they’re not with family.”