Feeding Hope had its annual Thanksgiving dinner for the community Thanksgiving day.
“We’re on our fourth-annual Thanksgiving and so the community just comes together,” said Keri Juarez, the director of Feeding Hope. “We all pitch in to provide the food and then my board members, we all take a piece of it and we all take it home to cook it and prepare it for everybody that comes today.”
Feeding Hope’s new building at 424 E. Florida St. opened last spring and Thanksgiving last year, a meal was served there while work on the building was still in progress.
The organization, previously called Families Feeding Families, has been providing meals to the community since 2004.
Juarez said the dinner was for anyone who wanted to stop by and they also offered to-go containers for people who were staying at home.
She said that usually, about 200 people are served and there are about 100 to-go orders.
According to Juarez, the recent government shutdown that lasted 43 days affected local families and a local church stepped in to help.
“Durant Church of Christ, they jumped on board with us and they came and started serving on Saturdays and doing foods in a bag,” Juarez said. “They did those so they could pass out to the families, so they actually took over on Saturdays. Right now, we currently serve Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 6 and Durant Church of Christ is serving on Saturdays at the same time.
“We did see a huge influx with the SNAP benefits being closed off. A normal that we have here is usually about 75 and our first Saturday without SNAP we had 250.”
Feeding Hope will have its second annual Night of Hope Christmas Gala Banquet at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at Durant First United Methodist Church.
“We’ll provide a buffet and we’ll talk about what’s been going on over the last year and what we predict in the future and what we’re wanting to happen,” Juarez said. “It’s a free event. It’s not black tie, but it is just a Sunday best.”
The evening will start with a full dinner, followed by a speech sharing everything Feeding Hope has done over the past year and a look at what’s coming next. After the program, there will be a live auction.
“This event is a big part of how we stay financially sustained for 2026 so we can keep our doors open and continue serving our community with meals, showers, laundry, clothing, mentorship, and the support so many rely on,” Juarez said. “It’s to raise money for our next year, 2026, to continue to keep Feeding Hope’s building open,” Juarez said.
