BENTONVILLE, Ark. — SOCO Church in Bentonville believes everyone should be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast, no matter the cost.
Every year since 2019, they've hosted a Thanksgiving meal giveaway where the community can drive up and volunteers will bring them a bag with a turkey, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and a pie.
"Every year we pass out bags to our congregation with a shopping list on there. It says all the things that need to go in that bag," Jesse Weegens, Missions Director for SOCO Church, said. "It's all about bringing the groceries to the cars, just providing some community and some dignity to people, praying over people in the cars and just trying to send them on their way feeling loved and a part of this community."
This year, the line stretched a few miles from the church. In total, they were able to give out 312 meals that could serve around 10 people in a family.
"To see so many people lined up, it's really encouraging. I love that we're able to meet this need," Weegens said. "Even in this community that we think of as being pretty well off and affluent, there's a lot of need."
They had 170 volunteers helping their mission this year
"Just to see that there were that many people in our church that were wanting to give their time to care for people in our community, that's huge to me," Weegens said.
The Foster family volunteered for the first time but have been members at SOCO since 2019.
"It was a small enough church that we felt at home but also just had a great vibe. The music was great. The message was good. It was a little trendy, and we like that," Chuck Foster said. "We're normally out of town on Thanksgiving, so we're just excited to be able to get back to able to give back tonight."
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