A Thanksgiving Tradition In The Friendly City

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – For nearly three decades, many Columbus locals and several organizations have worked to help and prepare Thanksgiving meals for the elderly and less-fortunate in the area.

On Thursday, the tradition continued.

All of this started 24 years ago.

It was a lot different then, than it is now.

“It has changed because when we first started, we only we were only able to do about 50 plates,” says Coordinator Annie Barry.

Now, nearly three decades later, the plate count is almost reaching 2,000.

Each to go box is packed with turkey, dressing, and all of the Thanksgiving food necessities.

“We started out in our own personal kitchens with one turkey and you just shared what you had, you know, and it was just, we would ride in our neighborhood and we stayed, I live on the south side of town, and we basically did it in our, it was territorial at that time, we did it in our neighborhood.”

It didn’t take long before the meals started being delivered city-wide.

And with the expansion, came dozens and dozens of volunteers and organizations, including the Mississippi State Women’s Basketball team and city leaders.

“I think it says that we have a strong community and that when comes to the needy, that we understand that we need to give back to them and help them as much as we can I think it’s a good sign,” says District Attorney Scott Colom.

Barry isn’t the only one in her family who has been a part of this from the beginning.

“My whole life, we’ve been doing this every Thanksgiving,” says Melody Barry.

But this year, the Thanksgiving tradition is a lot different for Melody Barry and her grandmother, Annie.

It’s their first one without Melody’s mom, who never missed out on coming back home to help.

That’s why she was honored this holiday, and why Melody says she’s going to continue her mom’s tradition of always coming home to help.

“It’s a part of how I was raised, so it’s always going to be something I do. It makes me feel really great to give back to somebody and make sure they have a meal for Thanksgiving.”

And Annie says that’s what it’s all about, helping others.

“I was going through an old list that we had from last year and I ran across this lady’s name and I just happened, I made the call and it took her a while to answer the phone, and when I told her why I was calling, she said, ‘Oh my gosh, that means I’ll have a meal on Thanksgiving.”

All of the meal prep took place at Stokes Beard Elementary School.