Donations and volunteers are needed for the 31st annual Thanksgiving Love Feast. The event is scheduled for Thursday, November 28th – Thanksgiving Day – from 11 am until 2 pm at the Rome Civic Center. It is being organized by the Concerned Citizens of Rome and Floyd County.
A traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, dressing and all the ‘fixings’ will be served to those in attendance. The Love Feast is open to any and all who may not have the resources to prepare and enjoy their own meal. In addition to feeding bellies, servers will feed souls, indicates Reverend Terrell Shields, Chairman of the Concerned Citizens.
Of course, it costs money to serve this feast. Financial contributions are now accepted by mail; make your check payable to ‘Thanksgiving Love Feast’ and send it to: P.O. Box 161, Rome, Georgia 30161. Or call Reverend Shields at (706) 234-2091. He says that he’d be happy to pick up your donation.
Volunteers are sought to help prepare, serve and deliver meals, states Shields, who is also in search of a clean-up crew.
And if you have a gently-used warm winter coat or jacket that you no longer use, donate it to the Thanksgiving Love Feast! Warm clothing is now offered to those in need at the event. Just carry your donations to the Civic Center on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, encourages Shields. These will be accepted from 6 pm until 8 pm, along with desserts for the feast.
As of now, there are no plans for pizza to be served at this year’s Love Feast since the local Pizza Hut is under new ownership. Shields urges anyone who may have access to a pizza restaurant to contact him if interested in donating free pizzas which would be served to those in attendance who are not as fond of the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
The first-ever Thanksgiving Love Feast was inspired more than three decades ago by Shields’ daughter, Terrica. This event has grown from serving around 900 people during that first year to serving over 3,000 last year.