Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – This Thanksgiving morning, dozens of volunteers gathered at St. Bernards Auditorium on East Washington Avenue to serve a free holiday meal for anyone in need as part of the 2025 Jonesboro Community Thanksgiving Meal. According to organizers, this year marks nearly 30 years of the event — a tradition rooted in community care.
Volunteers began arriving early, around 9:30 a.m., ready to serve meals onsite and load delivery boxes for those unable to travel. Meals were slated to be served from 9:30 a.m. until noon, or until food ran out.
Local realtor and media personality Chris Hughes could be heard on the PA system giving instructions and leading people to pray. Hughes has helped with the event for as long as he can remember. He told KAIT last year, “I was a pizza delivery guy when I was a teenager and so when we started doing the meal, we realized there was a need for deliveries and I thought that’s what I’m good at, I know most of Jonesboro so I started delivering and now 20 plus years later, we deliver over 1,500 meals a year, close to 2000.”
Coordinator Barbara Grisham Sanders said the plan this year was to serve roughly 2,300 to 2,500 people — a number that reflects both growing need and the continued generosity of local churches, businesses, and volunteers. “We try to feed everybody that we possibly can,” Sanders said noting that the food this year included a mix of proteins — turkey, chicken, and ham — donated by the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas and other partners.
In recent years the meal has become a major community endeavor. Last Thanksgiving, organizers assembled more than 2,200 meals, nearly 2,000 of which were delivered by volunteers.
According to Sanders, the roots of the community Thanksgiving trace back to the mid-1990s, when then-members of local churches — including First United Methodist Church — began gathering to help those who might otherwise be alone or unable to afford a holiday meal.
One of the key founders was Jim Grisham, Barbara’s father, who helped organize the first community meals. Over time, multiple churches joined forces; by 1999 they had consolidated into a unified community effort.
In early years volunteers carved turkeys, packed meals for delivery, and served food inside the auditorium. As one 2009 article described it, the preparation involved turkey slicing at local church kitchens, artful organization of meal platters, take-out box assembly, and home delivery for those unable to come.
Community support has also included local businesses. For example, longtime catering provider Greg Vance, owner of Bistro on the Ridge, has been responsible for cooking much of the food in recent years. “This year we had 785 pounds of meat, 2,400 rolls, 30 gallons of cranberry sauce, 40 gallons of gravy, 152 pans of dressing, 840 pounds of mashed potatoes and 126 gallons of green beans,” Vance said.
Vance said a lot goes in to getting the meal together. “Different churches, organizations, businesses and individuals donate money for the food or they bring desserts. We order the rest in,” Vance said. “My staff along with volunteers and I prepare the food and transport it to the auditorium.”
Over the years, hundreds of volunteers — families, individuals, youth groups, and even visiting volunteers from programs like AmeriCorps — have helped make the meal possible.
This year’s gathering comes with a sense of gratitude — and remembrance. Community stalwart Richard Carvell, who passed away in September, had long promoted and helped run the Thanksgiving meal. His decades of service to the community — including his 37-year tenure in the Radio-TV department at Arkansas State University — left a lasting legacy.
Carvell repeatedly described the meal as designed for “the hungry, the homeless, or the lonely” — stressing that anyone who needed a place at the table was welcome.
As volunteers this morning moved through kitchen stations, served meals, packed deliveries and handed out to-go trays, the spirit of community Carvell helped build was in full force.
For many who come — whether for dine-in or home delivery — the Community Thanksgiving Meal means more than turkey and dressing. It’s fellowship, kindness, and a reminder that no one in Jonesboro should be alone on Thanksgiving.
As organizers like Barbara Sanders put it, “We try to get everybody where they’re happy doing what they wanted to do” — whether that’s serving meals, delivering to homes, or simply sitting and sharing conversation over a plate of food.
In a city that has seen growth and change, this annual meal remains a constant: a spot where people from all walks of life come together, and where volunteers remind us that community starts when somebody shows up with a warm plate and a warm heart.