With Thanksgiving on the horizon, Phil Campbell’s Mountain View Baptist Church, located on Highway 81, is gearing up for its annual program to provide Thanksgiving meals for free.

Plates will be available on Thanksgiving Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. People are welcome to eat in the church or get their meals to go, or meals can be delivered within a 15-mile radius of the church for those who are homebound; there is a limit of up to five meals per family.

“We want to be a faith family that reaches out to all people in Jesus’ name,” explained the church’s pastor, Sammy Taylor. He said the church has been holding the program “for at least 25 years,” estimating they served or delivered 400-500 meals this past year.

Taylor said many of the church’s families will stop in on their way to their own family Thanksgiving meals to help pack up dinners and then deliver them.

“We look forward to ministering to people who are having a difficult time and to those who are homebound and not able to be with their families on this special day,” explained Taylor. “We also are blessed to be able to minister to those who are incarcerated and cannot be with their families.”                          

The biggest delivery is to the Franklin County Jail, where Mountain View provides plates for every inmate and every employee on shift during that time.

To sign up, call the church at 205-993-4610 and leave a name, address, number of plates and a phone number for contact.