Of One Accord’s Christmas food box distribution serves 850 families

By Sheldon Livesay Director, Of One Accord

Thanks to an outpouring of community support, Of One Accord’s Christmas program provided the makings of traditional Christmas dinners to 300 families in Church Hill and 550 families in Rogersville this past Saturday.

Food is purchased throughout the year from a variety of sources, including Second Harvest Food Bank.

This year, $20,000 was contributed locally to purchase hams, desserts and some other food items that were added to each box to make a traditional holiday meal for families. Most families were given a choice of turkeys or hams as a main course.

Of One Accord has been one of the key providers of Christmas dinners for over 35 years, but only through the support of a wide variety of community organizations.

On Dec. 17, 25 students from the Phipps Bend TCAT put together 550 of the food boxes.

The food distribution took place Dec. 21 at Of One Accord Ministry in Rogersville. Twenty members of the Cherokee Heritage Lites, members of Faith Assembly Church and a mission team from Kansas Baptist Church in Georgia joined Of One Accord staff in getting cars through the line in a little over an hour by loading six cars at a time.

“It’s a big job to plan these food distributions,” said Monte Emerson, who organized this year’s event in Rogersville. “We have to begin planning back in early summer collecting food items, but the people we serve are worth it. Most of them we know and it’s our way to offer them something really nice while having the opportunity to genuinely wish them and their families a Merry Christmas.”

Two of the members of Kansas Baptist dressed as elves and went car to car while people were in line just to offer a grand Merry Christmas. But alongside Santa and elf hats among the other volunteers, people received a multitude of season’s greetings for their families along with their meals and genuine appreciation for patience as they waited in line to reach the area where the food boxes were loaded.

Of One Accord Ministry offers its thanks to everyone who participated along with the entire community for its support. Groups like the Cherokee NJROTC recently donated over 2,000 food items, while other residents added year-end donations used to purchase meat and other items added to boxes.

“This is just one example of why Hawkins County is one of the best places on earth to live,” said Sheldon Livesay, ministry leader. “People care about their neighbors here. Their support is a testimony each year of Matthew 25:40 where Jesus said, ‘As you have done it for others, you do it as unto the Lord himself.’ “