COMMUNITY COOKOUT: Local church reaches out with Memorial Day food ministry

Published 9:24 pm Thursday, May 22, 2014

VAIL STEWART RUMLEY | DAILY NEWS MEMORIAL OUTREACH: Alice Sadler and Floyd Brothers put up the sign advertising for the free lunch Saturday at Beebe Park. The monthly free lunches are part of Beebe Memorial CME Church’s outreach ministry.

VAIL STEWART RUMLEY | DAILY NEWS
MEMORIAL OUTREACH: Alice Sadler and Floyd Brothers put up the sign advertising for the free lunch Saturday at Beebe Park. The monthly free lunches are part of Beebe Memorial CME Church’s outreach ministry.

 

Those look for food and fellowship need look no farther than Beebe Park this weekend.

Beebe Memorial CME Church’s lay council is hosting the event at noon on Saturday for anyone who wants to join in for a Memorial Day tribute then a cookout-style meal.

“We have a monthly food ministry at our church, every fourth Saturday, but this one happened to fall on Memorial Day weekend,” said Alice Sadler, a member of the lay council and organizer for this month’s food ministry.

While the church provides the paper goods, food is supplied by church volunteers. This month, with the warm weather and the date, organizers decided on hot dogs, burgers and sides, as befitting a Memorial Day celebration. Volunteers from First United Methodist Church will pitch in, as well, with beverages and desserts.

Sadler said the event will kick off with a prayer circle around the Beebe Park monument to pay tribute to the many servicemen who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty, then will move on to fellowship in the park.

Beebe Memorial CME Church holds a food outreach ministry once a month. It’s strictly volunteer-based and the menu is left up to organizers. In the winter months, soups and hot foods are the norm; in the summer, attendance picks up as the events move outdoors, Sadler said.

“We have a great group of volunteers at our church. Everyone is really excited to do this weekend,” Sadler said.

It’s the church’s — and its members’ — way of making a difference in the community they serve, according to a flyer for the cookout. Volunteers will also deliver food to the sick and shut-in, as well as to nursing homes, as long as a nursing home resident’s diet allows, Sadler said.

The posted times for the cookout are from noon to 2 p.m., but that may change depending on how many people come out.

“We’ll probably be here from 12 to 2, or as long as the food lasts,” Sadler said.

Beebe Park is located at the corner of 12th and North Bridge streets in Washington. For more information, call 252-946-0650.