The Sharion Bailey Whitlock Community Soul Food Dinner: Good Food for the Body and Soul, Part 2, is a week away and organizers are working to spread the word about the event.
Presented by Meet Me at the Court and The Bailey Family, the event is a follow-up to the annual SBWCSFD community Thanksgiving dinner that was held Nov. 4.
The second dinner is set for noon on Dec. 9 in the rear parking lot of the TAC House, 1101 N. west Ave.
The dinner is free and open to the public.
Meals will be served in a drive-through format and participants are urged to remain in their vehicles.
Veronica Bailey, president and CEO of MMC -- a nonprofit, community-service organization --, said organizers have finalized the menu for the dinner, noting that the meal will come with soul food staples and foods that are traditionally served for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, including dressing, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas, cabbage, candied yams, purple hull peas, potato salad, baked chicken, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, ribs and per, request, turkey necks.
Each meal will include a drink and dessert -- peach cobbler.
"We'll start at 12 (noon) and we'll serve the food until it's gone," Bailey said, adding there is no limit for the number of plates that are served per vehicle.
She noted that Meet Me at the Court youth members and members of the Sugar Town Riders Motorcycle Club will be the servers for the event.
Bailey also issued a reminder that the submission period is still open for MMC's 2023 Sharion Bailey Whitlock Angel Tree project.
Submissions must include the recipient's name, age, telephone number, address and clothing sizes.
Submissions are due on Dec. 7. Angel Tree gifts will be delivered on Dec. 21.
Bailey said gift cards will also be mailed to Angel Tree recipients.
By Thursday evening, 102 Angel Tree submissions had already been turned in to MMC.
Bailey noted that more requests have come in for assistance with groceries this year and some of the gift cards will be for local grocery stores.
"It's going to be whatever the need is for the families, each child. We've had several people to call and say they are in dire need of groceries," said Bailey. "We just try to meet the need of each call that we get, so we'll have some grocery gift cards."
Also on Dec. 21, MMC will launch its second annual Secret Santa giveaway.
With Secret Santa, MMC members approach people at any time and location in El Dorado, identify themselves and offer a gift.
Last year, MMC paid for groceries and gasoline, offered cash gifts, tipped servers at local restaurants and made donations to local churches around town.
MMC has adopted the Fordville neighborhood for Christmas on the Court 2023.
The event will begin at noon on Dec. 23 in the fellowship hall of New Olive Branch Baptist Church, 1548 N. Roselawn, and will be open only to Fordville residents.
Bailey said toys, including bicycles, will be distributed to children and volunteers will hand out free canned goods, hams, turkeys, rotisserie chickens and fresh vegetables, including collard greens, yams and onions.
MMC youth members will give away the canned goods as a part of their monthly mission project.
Bailey thanked donors who have contributed to the effort, including those who have donated bicycles.
For more information, call Bailey at 870-310-0391.