Nov. 21--It's more than a meal. It's a family feast seasoned with dignity and independence.
Police and pastors teamed up to give turkey dinners to about 200 Wilson families on Tuesday. The donations allow needy residents to celebrate Thanksgiving at home instead of going to soup kitchens or churches for group meals.
"We wish we could do it for everybody," said Dossie Jones, a member of Wilson's International Police and Fire Chaplains Association chapter. "We can give them a chance to sit down on Thanksgiving Day and have them feel like it's Thanksgiving. They can feel like they've been blessed."
Chaplains donated the frozen turkeys, stuffing mix, canned vegetables, croissants and other goods. The Wilson Police Department distributed boxes of food in city neighborhoods and outside a police substation in a Tuesday morning effort called Beyond the Badge.
"We try to look for ways to problem-solve in the community," Police Chief Thomas Hopkins said. "We don't want people just seeing us arrest people. We want people to know it's more than just wearing a badge. Being a law enforcement officer is more than just coming to work. There are other things we need to do in the community."
Organizers said 175 meals had been distributed by 12:30 p.m. Roughly two-dozen boxes remained at the Wilson Police Department's South District Station.
Police, social workers, schools and churches provided Beyond the Badge volunteers with qualifying residents' names.
"Just to feed needy people and just to see the smiles on people's faces are a thrill for us," said Col. Nate Poole, a chaplains association leader and pastor of Suggs Christian Temple Church on Stantonsburg Road.
Wilson police chaplain Michael Clanton called the food giveaway "a concerted effort" between police and local chaplains. The National Wild Turkey Federation also contributed to the charity.
"It is more blessed to give than to receive," Clanton said, paraphrasing a Bible verse in the book of Acts. "Anything we can do to help, that's what we do. We're here to assist."
Clanton has served as the Wilson Police Department's chaplain for about four years. He also is pastor of Antioch Outreach Ministries on Ash Street East.
The local chapter of the police and fire chaplains' group consists of 38 chaplains from Wilson, Stantonsburg, Rocky Mount, Castalia and other area cities and towns.
Cardboard boxes half-filled with an assortment of food -- turkeys, canned green beans and peas, fruit juices, muffin mix, stuffing and loaves of bread -- sat in clusters outside the police substation off U.S. 301. Bible tracts were placed in each box.
Harley and Patricia Hollmond, pastors of Bringeth Forth His Fruit in His Season Ministries, said they participated to give Wilson residents the gift of love.
"It's heartwarming to be able to spread Jesus' love into someone else's home by the hands of the Wilson Police Department and the chaplains," Patricia Hollmond said. "It's not about arresting people. Let the Lord arrest our hearts to do this. This is Thanksgiving. They should be able to be thankful that somebody else loves them."
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