Ouachita students, faculty and staff have an opportunity to serve the community this Thanksgiving. The Elrod Center is hosting a Thanksgiving basket ministry.
This program was launched in 2006 and is becoming a Ouachita tradition. Local businesses participate by making generous donations to help fill the baskets. Ouachita’s cafeteria food management service, Sodexo, Inc., donates turkeys to the cause.
Junior Cami Jones has been helping out with the project for the past two years.
“They don’t know that it’s coming, so when you walk through their front door and say, ‘Hey! I’ve got your Thanksgiving meal,’ the tears flow,” Jones said.
Jones had the opportunity one year to deliver a basket to a woman who had been in the hospital for three months and did not have the means to pay her medical bills, much less feed her family for Thanksgiving.
“She didn’t really understand, so I explained it to her that we got her name and wanted to give it [the basket] to her,” Jones said. “She said, ‘Ok, what do I owe you,’ and I said, ‘No. We just wanted to give this to you.’ She said, ‘Are you serious?’ Then she started crying.”
Junior Jake Sligh also had the opportunity to deliver Thanksgiving baskets and recalls that, “The people thought that they had won a sweepstake.”
“It’s great opportunity for our students, faculty and staff to get to interact with these people and build relationships with people in the community through doing this,” said Judy Duvall, assistant director of the Elrod Center. “It’s neat to get to help people who really have genuine needs.”
The Red River Baptist Association’s Lighthouse Ministries provides the names of the individuals who will receive the baskets. These people usually have limited income, have lost jobs or have experienced difficult setbacks.
To help fill the baskets, the Elrod Center is accepting canned donations of corn, fruit, sweet potatoes, gravy, green beans and cranberry sauce. They are accepting boxed donations of instant potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, instant dressing, cornbread mix, jello, pudding, brownie mix, cake mix, frosting and bags of rolls.
All donations need to be turned in to the Elrod Center by Thursday, Nov. 20 to allow plenty of time to assemble the baskets.
Along with all of the canned and boxed donations, the Elrod Center tries to make sure that a home-baked item is included in every basket to add a personal touch to them. They ask that those be delivered Monday, Nov. 24.
Volunteers for the assembly of the baskets are needed on Saturday, Nov. 22, and volunteers to deliver the baskets are needed on Monday, Nov. 24.
“It’s emotional for them and for you,” Jones said. “It’s just a really cool experience. I would definitely recommend it.”
