Local groups expand Thanksgiving food services as need grows

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Organizations across Augusta are preparing to serve more people this Thanksgiving as community needs continue to grow, with some groups already seeing unprecedented demand for holiday meals.

The Turnaround Foundation’s Thanksgiving dinner served all 145 prepared meals for people experiencing homelessness in just one hour of their planned three-hour event.

“It was really fast… in less than an hour, we had already served 80. Actually, less than 30 minutes,” said Gloria Hamilton, a Turnaround Foundation volunteer and wellness/health leader at Oak Grove Baptist Church. “Times are changing and so the community has to change with it and be of greater help.”

Feast in the Streets expands capacity

Cafe 209’s Feast in the Streets event on Thanksgiving Day is planning to serve a minimum of 500 people, recognizing the changing economic landscape.

“We’re planning on feeding a minimum of 500 people. I hope that we don’t have too many more, but we also realize that the economy is different,” said Cassandra Brinson, Cafe 209 and Feast in the Streets organizer. “I feel like we’re feeding more than the homeless. I feel like we’re feeding the community, and that’s also important.”

Debra Graham, organizer of Blankets of Love Charity, said the partnership allows the community to come together during difficult times.

“I have a struggle, Cassandra has a struggle, everyone has a struggle. And so this allows the community to come together, you know, as a unit and to share those blessings,” Graham said.

Personal connections drive volunteers

Hamilton described how individual encounters with community members highlight the importance of the work.

“It was just some of the seniors that came out that really kind of tugged at my heart that they were spending the holiday alone. And she said all she wanted was some dressing and some yams. And she just did a whole happy praise dance when she realized that she could get that today,” Hamilton said.

The Feast in the Streets event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the intersection of Broad Street and Monument Street next to Cafe 209. Blankets of Love Charity will provide clothes to those in need as well.