Thanksgiving meals programs help seniors and the needy

Thanksgiving can be a joyous occasion as family and friends gather to give thanks and share a traditional holiday meal.

But for many Gulf Coast residents, Thanksgiving can be stressful, as preparing a meal can be expensive and time consuming, and it also can be lonely for those who are not able to get together with their families -- which often includes seniors who are not able to travel easily.

Fortunately, there are a few options this Thanksgiving to help make the day more enjoyable and less stressful.

Biloxi seniors luncheon

The City of Biloxi will be holding its annual Thanksgiving luncheon for seniors today at noon at the Donal Snyder Community Center.

"We are doing a Thanksgiving luncheon for the seniors in the community," event coordinator Gwen Johnson said. "It's for people 50 and older. We will provide the turkey and dressing and all of the things that go along with it. All we are asking is for those who attend to bring a dessert to share."

Johnson said the luncheon provides not only a hot meal but social interaction for the area's seniors.

"It's a social event that they can come out and enjoy because a lot of the seniors don't have family members that are close by," she said. "This provides a Thanksgiving for people who don't cook much anymore or are going to be alone on Thanksgiving. Otherwise, they may not get a Thanksgiving dinner."

For more information or to RSVP to the luncheon, call 388-1340.

Feed the Needy

Gulf Coast Public Safety Feed the Needy will provide meals on Thanksgiving to anyone in Harrison County that signs up for the service by 5 p.m. today.

The organization is composed of law enforcement and first-responder agencies in Harrison County.

"We will start preparing the meals at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving at the Lyman Civic Center," Lt. Mike Shaw of the Gulfport Police Department said. "Once the meals are ready to go, they will be delivered to the people that signed up for them."

Shaw said the program is open to anyone who signs up for the meals by today's 5 p.m. deadline.

"It could be people that are elderly or sick or shut in," he said. "We will deliver hot meals to everyone that signed up."

Feed the Needy was started in 1986 by former Gulfport Mayor Ken Combs. It was started to help with the overflow of Feed My Sheep, a local food pantry-soup kitchen that prepares meals every day except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"We will probably serve around 5,000 meals this year," Shaw said. "We usually serve about 2,500 on Thanksgiving and about 2,500 on Christmas."

For more information or to sign up for the free meal delivery, call the GPD at 868-5703, the Biloxi Police Department at 385-3033 or Harrison County Sheriff's Office at 896-0606.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Thanksgiving meals programs help seniors and the needy ."