Seacoast Church volunteers serve more than 9,000 Thanksgiving meals across Lowcountry

Seacoast Church and hundreds of volunteers across the Lowcountry spent Thanksgiving week serving thousands of meals to families in need, turning their campuses into what many called “Thanksgiving Central.” Organizers said more than 9,000 meals would be served across the Charleston area.

Volunteers worked on every step of the process. At the North Charleston campus, they carved turkeys, cooked, and packed boxes of turkeys and side dishes as quickly as they could. Volunteers moved between fryers, ovens, and assembly lines to make sure every box was filled.

Natalie Bennett, a mother and volunteer, said the experience was about gratitude and about teaching her children the value of service. “We know that we have a lot be thankful for this time of year,” she said. “I think that getting out there with your kids and to learn how valuable it is to volunteer and support the community you live in is really important as well.”

Student volunteers described the work in similar terms. Twelve-year-old Sophie said the mission was “so that everybody can get everything that they need for these holidays and that everybody can celebrate it the way anybody could.” Fourteen-year-old volunteer Cade said, “It’s just always good to help people and to give people in need when they don’t have it and you can.”

Local missions coordinator Ciarrah Lindsay said the goal was to make sure no one in the community went without a holiday meal. “We do this just so we can serve the community outside the walls of our church,” she said. “There’s a ton of need, especially in our homeless community, of meals.” Parishioners donated food throughout the week, preparing individual meals and full family meals for delivery to nonprofits and neighborhoods across the Lowcountry. Volunteers also went into the streets to serve meals directly to people without a home, a practice of charity and hospitality (Matthew 25:35).

Lindsay said the effort extended across all Seacoast campuses. “We link arms with all of our other Seacoast campuses. So at North Charleston alone, we feed close to 4,000 people.” Ten-year-old Benjamin said he volunteered because “we’re helping people who can’t do it themselves,” and five-year-old Ariana said, “I wanna share all the turkey.”

The outreach has been a Seacoast tradition since 2009, and organizers said they are committed to growing it each year. Lindsay said, “We do it because it’s a tangible need that we get to meet in this season. And doing it for many is just because of the resources that we’ve been given. We want to pay it forward and give it back.”

Individual and family meals are delivered to organizations including The Hope Center, My Sister’s House, and Lieber Correctional Facility. Community members can also pick up meals at the Dream Center each Thanksgiving morning, starting at 8 a.m. Seacoast Church is accepting side dish donations on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at its North Charleston campus at 5505 N Rhett Ave., and people can also give financially online.

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