WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

When two separate entities can pool resources and serve a greater good, everyone benefits.  St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kernersville connected with Hall Woodward Elementary in Winston-Salem to feed over 500 people.

According to school Principal Celena Tribby, Hall Woodward is a high-needs school where nearly 100 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch.  She felt as though there was a need to be met, especially during the holiday season, so she got the wheels turning on putting together the dinner.

“I’m fighting back tears because it does my heart well to see all these people enjoying a meal,” Tribby said.  “I’m thankful that I have partners to help me meet the needs of families.  Our kids can’t learn until their basic needs are met.”

The volunteers for the event were from St. Paul’s, the staff of Hall Woodward and a few varsity football players from Carver High school.  Carver varsity head coach Germane Crowell says they caught wind of the event from one of his coaching staff members who also works at Hall Woodward, and he thought it would be a great chance to help someone in need.

“I just thought it was a great opportunity to put others before us,” Crowell said.  “The spirit of Thanksgiving is all about serving and with me being a head coach as well as a pastor, I just fell right in line with this.”

St. Paul’s Senior Pastor Oscar Pilson says he initially became aware of having Thanksgiving dinners for the less fortunate while he was in Atlanta, Georgia.  He says on Thanksgiving, members from the church were feeding people in multiple locations, such as the Bethesda Center, and taking orders at the church from the sick and shit in. The church also delivered meals to some of the local fire stations in Kernersville.

Pilson went on to say that much of the funding for this event came from a grant provided by the United Methodist Church.  He says church members along with people in the community donated to the cause as well.  He wanted to give a special thanks to K&W Cafeteria for working with them on a reasonable price for all of the meals along with Sam’s Club and Publix.

“Being both a pastor and a strong believer in Jesus Christ, I remember the words He explained to His disciples that He did not come to the earth to be serve; He came to the earth to  served, Pilson stated.

“Wanting to be more like Jesus is the platform that I am working from.  My joy and excitement comes from duplicating the work that he did,” he said.