Nicole Odell was sad on Nov. 15th as she announced to the congregation of First Baptist Church in Brazil, Indiana, that there would be no sit down, fellowship, free Thanksgiving dinner this year.
"It's been a little bit of a hard week," she said. "A little emotional. But with all the other restrictions things have changed."
The woman who has been involved and helped organized the annual dinner that fed hundreds of people each Thanksgiving Day for years, said she "did everything I could to be sure we had a dinner." But it was not to be due to the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the world. In Clay County, Indiana, there was 1,198 confirmed cases of the virus and 22 deaths, including 38 deaths on Monday according to information from the World Health Organization.
Nicole said she spoke with church members, the deacons and the consensus was to cancel the 2020 free community Thanksgiving dinner.
While no one will gather in the church's community room on Thursday, "We will on the other hand continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus in another way," she said.
The church plans to deliver up to 150 bags of groceries containing enough food in a variety for Thanksgivng dinner to residents of the senior citizens' tower apartments in the city. Nicole estimated the need to be $2,500.
"I don't think this is a crazy number," she said. "I think it is a God-sized number and we have asked for God-sized things before and we have blown it out fo the water. At this church, we know those things happen."
Donations for the dinner can be sent to First Baptist Church, 413 S. Walnut St., Brazil, IN 47834. Please mark your church for the Thanksgiving dinner.
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