Hand-delivering meals to those in need

Before sitting down to their own Thanksgiving dinners this year, Bruno Montessori families joined others in the community to deliver more than 350 Thanksgiving meals to veterans and others in the Birmingham area. For the third year in a row, Enjoy the City (enjoythecity.com) has sponsored and organized this initiative, partnering with Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy (JBMA), and this year with Our Lady of the Valley School, to deliver the meals.

JBMA second grader Caleb Edwards, who helped with the meal delivery along with his family, said, “It makes me happy that the ladies we delivered to will have enough food for Thanksgiving.”

While funds for the meals came largely from Enjoy the City’s sponsorship and donations, participants were also invited to join a 5K “Turkey Trot” at Heardmont Park on Nov. 17 to help cover the cost of the meals.

Then, on Nov. 21, employees at Publix scrambled to prepare 350 complete dinners, each enough to feed a family of six to eight. That’s Thanksgiving dinner for a total of more than 2,000 people. Each meal consisted of an 8-10 pound turkey, sides, pumpkin pie and a gallon of sweet tea.

JBMA students and their families, as well as representatives from Enjoy the City, then delivered the meals to Oak Mountain Missions, The Salvation Army and The Veterans Administration Hospital, and to individual families designated by Oak Mountain Missions.

Participants seemed to think of their involvement as a privilege and a treat. Organizer and JBMA parent Anne Stanton’s comment about the event sums up this spirit of graciousness.

“Tons of fun,” she simply stated.

– Submitted by Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy (jbma.org).