BATESVILLE — Many 4-H groups are livestock related; however, some students at Southside Middle School near Batesville are in it for the community service.
The 4-H group’s leader, Casey Callahan, said that four years ago, Pam Gramling, a parent of one of the members, came up with the idea of feeding community members a Thanksgiving feast and asking nothing in return.
Gramling, the owner of Cowboy’s Barbecue, smokes all the turkeys for the event at her restaurant.
Each year, the number of plates that leave the Southside High School cafeteria kitchen has increased.
“The first year, we served 40 to 60,” Callahan said. “Last year, we served over 200, and we are preparing for more this year.”
Throughout the year, the group raises money for the Thanksgiving meal, and 4-H members give up their holiday to make someone else’s special.
“We like to see the smiles on people’s faces,” Kenzi Dunegan said.
The seventh-grader has worked on the Thanksgiving dinner since its first year.
After the meal, if the group has leftovers, Callahan said, they are donated to a local place or home where people need food, such as the New Life Children’s Home in Oil Trough. Food is also delivered to those who are homebound.
Although several local businesses have donated gift cards and funds for the project, the group doesn’t solicit donations.
“We raise money throughout the year,” Callahan said. “If we have money left over, we spend it on the Angel Tree for Christmas.”
She said the group has already chosen a family of five from the Angel Tree and will spend that money on gifts for the children.
A few fundraising projects the group has had are selling cookies, selling barbecue sandwiches at football games and a team sorting event.
“They raised $400 at the sorting,” Callahan said.
When asked how the 4-H members’ families felt about them helping out with the dinner and missing time with their own families, they all had the same type of response.
“We just get together at another time,” seventh-grader Libbie Pratt said. “I think it is good because we are helping.”
Callahan, who also gives up a big chunk of her holiday, added, “I think it’s great that all of them give up their Thanksgiving to help others.”
The menu consists of more than 150 pounds of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, yeast rolls, macaroni and cheese, and dessert.
No reservations are required for the dinner, which is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day at the Southside High School cafeteria, and no payment is expected.
For more information, to volunteer or to make a contribution, call Callahan at (501) 412-4934 or Gramling at (870) 698-8500.