Come rain or shine, the Sharion Bailey Whitlock Community Soul Food Dinner: Good Food for the Body and Soul, Part 2, will go on as planned at noon today in the rear parking lot of the TAC House, 1101 N. West Ave.
The dinner, presented by Meet Me at the Court and The Bailey Family, is free and open to the public.
Meals will be served in a drive-through format and organizers are urging participants to remain in their vehicles to help service run smoothly.
Veronica Bailey, president and CEO of MMC -- a nonprofit, community-service organization --, said the information is included in fliers for the event.
"There will be signs up and it states that on the flier. It is drive-through only. Please stay in your vehicle because it helps us get the plates out faster," Bailey said, noting that plates will be pre-prepared.
In the event of inclement weather, volunteers will move underneath the Col. Frank Hash Tailgate Pavilion behind the TAC House, she added.
Light rain showers are forecast during the early morning hours today but they are expected to have out of the area by noon.
"Rain, sleet or snow, I'm going to do what I said I was going to do. We're going to make it happen. It'll still be the drive-through, just under the pavilion," said Bailey.
The event is a follow-up to the annual SBWCSFD community Thanksgiving dinner that was held Nov. 4.
MMC served 400 plates during the Thanksgiving dinner and Bailey said the group is looking forward to feeding hundreds more people today.
"We're just expecting to have a great time and great fellowship, just the happiness and good hot, soul food. We're going to have a great time," Bailey said.
The menu will include soul food staples and dishes that are traditionally served for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day dinner, 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.
Peach cobbler, homemade pound cake and more will be served for dessert.
Bailey reiterated there is no limit to the number of plates that are served per vehicle. She also noted that participants do not have to be residents of El Dorado and Union County.
"I had somebody call me and say they were having a family reunion and they wanted to bring some of their family who were from out of town, and I told them to go ahead and bring them," she said with a laugh.
MMC youth and members of the Sugar Town Riders Motorcycle Club will be the servers for the event.
Angel Tree submissions closed
The submission period ended Thursday for MMC's 2023 Sharion Bailey Whitlock Angel Tree project and Bailey said nearly 200 submissions came in.
"We have to close it because we have to have time to get everything," she said.
Bailey said she began receiving inquiries about the angel tree project weeks before the submission period opened on Nov. 7 and early on, there was in increase in the number of requests, particularly for groceries, compared to the same period in 2022.
A total of 181 submissions came in by the close of the day Thursday, Bailey reported.
"We were just overwhelmed with the requests this time. We really were, from clothing to toys to gift cards to groceries for children, teenagers and families. We even have three sets of twins on our list and they all are 6 to 9 months (old)," she said.
Angel Tree gifts, including bags of groceries, will be delivered on Dec. 21.
Bailey said gift cards, some to local grocery stores, will also be mailed out to Aangel Tree recipients.
She also said a local woman and her daughter have already volunteered to wrap Angel Tree gifts.
"They do it every year and they will be doing it again this year, just out of the love of their hearts, and they won't take any pay," said Bailey. "It's a mission project they do for Meet Me at the Court every year and we are so grateful for that."
MMC has other holiday community-service projects scheduled for the month, including the second annual Secret Santa giveaway, which will begin Dec. 21, the same day of the Angel Tree-gift deliveries.
With Secret Santa, MMC members randomly approach people public spaces in El Dorado, identify themselves and offer them 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 at New Olive Branch Baptist Church, 1548 N. Roselawn, for Fordville residents only.
MMC will distribute gifts, turkeys, hams, rotisserie chickens, canned goods and fresh vegetables (turnip and collard greens, cabbage, onions, bell peppers and potatoes) to attendees.
The canned goods will be distributed as part of MMC youths' monthly mission project.
If any of the items are left over, MMC will head to other neighborhoods in the city to distribute the excess items, said Bailey.
For more information, call Bailey at 870-310-0391.