As most in Fayetteville were preparing to have friends and family over for a day of Thanksgiving, others were cooking turkeys — hundreds of them — for thousands of complete strangers.
Operation Compassion, an event hosted by Epicenter Church in Fayetteville, has a mission to make sure that anyone who needs a hot meal during the week of Thanksgiving can get one.
This year, Operation Compassion prepared 5,500 Thanksgiving meals for people in need and served them last Tuesday, according to the church’s Communications Director Brianna Little.
“Operation Compassion is for anyone who can be blessed by a meal,” Little said. “This year we had 700 turkeys. Around 400 were cooked for the meals given to people in need, first responders, shut-ins and the elderly. Another 300 were given away to families who needed them to help have a good Thanksgiving.”
Lead pastor Mark Knight said that it is what his church does to help show love to the community.
“We are here to help save people and serve people,” Knight said.
He said that the project started 11 years ago in 2013 when it fell upon the hearts of the Epicenter Church members, then still known to most back then as Calvary, to feed those in crisis or food-insecure situations.
“We fed three or four hundred in that first year, but now it’s grown tremendously,” Knight said. “We knew it could grow bigger, but this has been bigger than we ever anticipated and we are glad to do it. It’s our service.”
He said that it has grown so much that they mobilize volunteers to set up sites in numerous locations throughout Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
“We have volunteers delivering all over town,” Knight said. “We set up in neighborhoods. We also feed those working at the emergency department at Cape Fear Valley Health and first responders in our fire and police departments.”
Over 150 church members cook, package and deliver the meals.
Volunteer Mike Hussey looks forward to it every year.
“This was my sixth year volunteering with Operation Compassion and it’s my favorite time of the year,” Hussey said. “It’s a great opportunity to get out and serve others in the community.”
What keeps him coming back year after year is the unity of the church, he said.
“This brings a whole lot of volunteers out,” Hussey said. “There are probably over 150 volunteers from Sunday to Tuesday helping cook and serve.”
On Sunday, Hussey and fellow volunteers cooked 175 turkeys.
“Then we get to Tuesday,” Hussey said, “which is a huge day of fellowship for us.”
He said the best part of Operation Compassion is serving others with so much need in the world.
“It’s up to us and it starts with me,” Hussey said. “If people see me serving, they have a tendency to jump right in. It’s a joy to serve.”
Little said that in collaboration with One Big Family, a non-profit that helps feed the homeless, they produced over 25,000 pounds of food this year.
She said Epicenter Church also has service projects through Ways 2 Love Fayetteville and Ways 2 Love Western North Carolina, which help supply food and meals to those who need it throughout the year.
“We have a food pantry that is open twice a week for local families in need,” Little said. “We have a Hope Dinner served twice a month too, partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank [of Southeast North Carolina].”
Knight said their members are there to serve, no matter how big or small.
“It’s what we do as a Gospel-centered church,” Knight said. “It’s one of the ways we show love to our community.”
Jami McLaughlin is a freelance writer for CityView. She can be reached at jmclaughlin@cityviewnc.com or at 910-391-4870.
