Local church hands out thanksgiving meals to the community and hosting SC Gamecocks

Mildred’s To-Go and Catering on Michigan Avenue gave away hundreds of Thanksgiving meals the day before Thanksgiving in an effort to help a community that may be struggling to put a hot meal on the table this year.

“We wanted to target the senior citizens and those who may be elderly or disabled, and those particular areas that we knew of, and we’ve ministered to before, and we knew that there was a special need in that area,” Pastor Michael Barns, the owner of Mildred’s said.

They reached their goal of handing out 500 Thanksgiving meals to the elderly, the neighboring community and anyone in need of a good holiday meal. Jackie Moore received a meal and said that this was exactly what her community needed.

“In order for healing to take place in the community, there has to be a genuine spirit of love, a genuine spirit of concern and care for the people. And that’s like the first nugget for healing to be ushered into the community. So, this is love for me,” Moore said. “With the economy being what it is, you know, the holidays are supposed to be a festive time, but that’s not always the case.”

Ham, turkey, corn and mashed potatoes. They have it all.

Pastor Barnes knows that with the natural disasters, pandemic and economy, it’s been a tough time for many. This holiday season, he wants to make sure having a meal is not a concern people have ahead of the holidays.

“We just want to share the love. We’ve had a couple of hurricanes, COVID, all of these different things have plagued us over the last couple of years. And anytime you can brighten somebody’s day; you never know what kind of day they’re having. So we want to be a part of that in this season, to be a blessing to them,” Barnes said.

The fun doesn’t just stop on the eve of Thanksgiving; on Thanksgiving, they have a special honor: catering for Coach Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks champions.

“When I got the call and I returned the call, I thought somebody was pranking me,” Barnes.

They handed out meals to Renaissance Preserve, a nearby community with elderly residents.

“After the game, we’re going to cater their Thanksgiving dinner, and they have a good, good menu plan. They’re going to have salmon. They’re going to have baked chicken; they’re going to have ham; they’re going to have sliced turkey.”