Plains spoons up a Thanksgiving meal for everybody

Matt Unrau

Last week, informal chefs all over Sanders County spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning bustling about their kitchens stuffing turkeys and baking pies, so they could feed their families to a feast for Thanksgiving.

However, imagine feeding not only your family, but treating another 100 people to the same feast. That is what Soul Savers in Plains found themselves doing the better part of Wednesday and all of Thursday morning for the third year in a row.

The group is the outreach ministry for Assembly of God Church in Plains and dished up mashed potatoes, ham, green bean casserole and of course turkey to people that either didn’t have any family to dine with or not enough money to dish out for a Thanksgiving feast.

“It’s fun,” says Jessica Peterson who headed up the cooking duties. “I’m used to it. I’m from a big family. It’s actually really easy with a lot of help.”

Her and her helpers started the work at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, cooked until 30 minutes after midnight, and then resumed the work at 7 a.m. the next morning, where they finished up the meal in time for the 11 a.m. start time.

Peterson says she relishes spending Thanksgiving at the church, so she can give back to the community.

“This is just a way to get the community together as a family,” says Peterson. Her family moved here six years ago, and she says that as community transplants they just fell in love with Plains. Her husband Sean could be found helping dish out the main course, while several of her children were passing out dessert.

After his meal, community member Jeff Doughney could be seen sipping on a cup of coffee chatting with another visitor to the church. Although, Soul Savers has only been doing the meal for the last three years, the Church has been hosting a meal for the last 10 years and Doughney has attended every one of them.

He says his main motivation for coming is the fellowship.

“It’s kind of a rough year, so it’s really nice,” says Doughney. “(There’s) good people. It’s a family-type atmosphere.”

This meshes perfectly with what Peterson hopes to offer people who need some company for the Holiday.

“There’s just a lot of people that don’t have a place for Thanksgiving, so we’re here,” says Peterson. “We’re feeding the people that don’t have a place to go.”

However, the meal isn’t just a benefit for people looking for some company, but also hands out a free meal to people who can’t afford one regularly.

Peterson describes one man who came to the meal who was living out of his car and just needed a helping hand, which Soul Savers happily gave, feeding him at the church along with giving him as many meals as he could carry out the door.

“I know that they’re are a lot of families struggling to get by,” says Peterson. She explains that the church also runs a soup kitchen on Tuesdays, so for many people it’s normal for them to come to the church for a meal.

Of course it wasn’t just any meal on Thursday, it was a Thanksgiving feast made with four large turkeys and three large hams courtesy of Soul Savers along with the support of local businesses. And, it satisfied all of the 100 or so people that got to experience it, just ask Doughney.

“It was excellent,” he said with a satisfied smile on his face.

Soul Savers Ministries would like to thank The Printery and the Conoco for the help with the dinner.