|Be the Service
Organized by Hopkins County Christian Alliance, sponsored by local churches and staffed by volunteers, Be the Service will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, in Sulphur Springs High School student parking lot.
“Be the Service started about 8 years ago when we, as the Hopkins County Christian Alliance, decided rather than have a corporate worship service where someone preaches and the choir comes and sings, we wanted to go be a service to the people in our community. So, we came up with the idea of Be the Service and what does it look like in Hopkins County or churches to come together to feed those in need throughout the holiday season,” said Christian Alliance officer Joel Tiemeyer.
The first year, HCCA had boxes with turkey and fixings built for 300. The next they provided boxes for 600 families, then 800 in year three, and has continued to provide 1,000 boxed meals, complete with pretty much everything needed for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
“Our goal is to feed 1,000 families in Hopkins County this year, give them a turkey and all the side dishes that would go to make a complete Thanksgiving meal and then also some extra food products with it so they have meals for the rest of the Thanksgiving week as well,” Tiemeyer said.
Funds are raised from approximately 14 participating churches, who sell tickets for $10 each, which covers the cost of the meal, procured primarily through North Texas Food Bank.
“The people that are in need, they can just come to the parking lot at the high school, and from there they will just follow the instructions and drive up that back road to Barbara Bush Primary, where we will have assembled the boxes of food and have turkeys, and be able to put a free Thanksgiving meal in every vehicle that comes,” Tiemeyer noted.
“We also have the opportunity to go deliver if somebody that can presay, I need the box but I can’t get there. A lot of the churches are kind of collecting that information. I know Community Chest is collecting that information of the homebound. Then, different people from different churches will actually go together to deliver those boxes to them,” said Jason Dietze, HCCA officer. “the hope is that people can actually come and get it, but we definitely want to reach people.
“If somebody is homebound or doesn’t have proper transportation, that kind of thing, we would deliver that,” said Rusty Posey.
“We also work closely with the food bank. They’re able to help a lot with the canned products and even some years they have eggs and milk. It kind of depends on what they are able to get us. We don’t necessarily know up front, but they target things that specifically go along with that Thanksgiving meal. Then, we try to create other food opportunities as well. Like last year there was spaghetti and sauce that we were able to give them. So the food bank, in conjunction with the money raised is what funds all of the food,” Dietze noted.
All of the turkeys are ordered through Brookshire’s who serves as a supplier, able to procure 1,000 turkeys needed at one time, and provide 2,000 boxes of stuffing as well. Tiemeyer expressed thanks to Shannon Beech, the store director, as Brookshire’s stores in-house all of the turkeys until they are ready for distribution.
Each family gets a turkey, two boxes of stuffing, a carton of eggs, corn, green beans and a lot of the side dishes that are traditional side dishes.
“We really want to get the word out. Right now we have so many people in Hopkins County. The economy is bad. I saw an article a few weeks ago, where they talked about that the North Texas Region, which we are right here in Hopkins County, is the number four for food insecurity in the nation,” Posey said. “So when we think of that, it really just adds more urgency for us to want to get the word out to the people that truly are in need. Some people will say that there are people worse off than me. There are a thousand — one thousand, boxes. So we want to make sure we get those out. If they are in need, they need to come. Don’t hesitate if you think someone is in worse need. You come.”
Tiemeyer pointed out that with a population of about 15,000, and families estimated to have 5 people each, that be roughly one-third of the Sulphur Springs population being fed through Be the Service. He noted there is an ample amount of food to be given away, and encourages those who have a financial need, who face food insecurity to drive over to the school Saturday and get a box of food to help stretch the dollars they do have for another day.
Anyone or community organization interested in helping to financially support Be the Service can contact their local church, Dietze, Tiemeyer or Posey, or the Community Chest to arrange to make a donation to Hopkins County Christian Alliance for Be The Service. If there are any remaining funds at the end of the food distribution, those funds will go to Community Chest to continue to help local people facing food insecurity throughout the year.
“All the funds raised will for feeding people through Thanksgiving, through Be the Service and, if there is any extra, through Christmas and the New Year and the 2024 calendar year,” Tiemeyer said, noting that everything goes back into the community. The Christian Alliance helps support the Community Cupboard by sponsoring two employees and the director, so it’s providing jobs for the community as well.
“God’s been good to us, so it’s awesome to see churches give back to the community. It’s what makes ministry fun, being able to see this and truly seeing life changing people,” Tiemeyer said.
“It’s a blast to come out and see all the cars lined up, and churches working together and pastors in the community out there together, being the hands and feet of Jesus, giving back, not just having the service but being the service. One minister that I follow, she always says it’s being Jesus with skin on. So that’s what we want to be the hands and feet of Him,” Posey said.
Anyone who needs help with delivery or wants to help, call Community Cupboard at 903-885-3452.
“We had a good turn out last year, but with all the hard times people are having with the economy, we want to get the word out to let those in need know that it’s there,” Dietze said.