There were 1,200 free Easter dinner’s served Saturday thanks to the work of volunteers in the Salem area.
For the second year in a row, the free dinner was coordinated by Saved with Amazing Grace, the Grace United Methodist Church, and the Salem Apostolic Church.
Chris Watkins with Saved with Amazing Grace says 95 hams were smoked for the dinner.
“We did the hams last night,” Watkins said. “We started at eight o’clock and finished at about three o’clock. We let them cool off and cut the meat off of them, then the volunteers came in this morning and got everything ready. Now we’re packing them up and getting them out.”
It took 70 gallons of green beans as well as nine large cans of condensed mashed potatoes to complete the dinner. He says Smokin’ Snow assisted with the smoking of 40 of the turkeys.
“We’re happy and blessed to do it. We would not be able to do it without the people in the community who give the money to do it. None of this could be done without Jesus and the people in the community helping us out.”
The minister at the Grace United Methodist Church Carol Lakota-Eastin says the dinner day is filled with joy and happiness from those receiving the meals.
“It’s one of the most meaningful experiences to interact with more people from our community and to see the cooperation between churches and organizations in our town that makes this possible,” Lakota-Eastin said. “Feeding over a thousand people is pretty incredible.”
And Lakota-Eastin says after two years they are in this for the long haul. 400 of the free meals were shared with the Centralia community, with deliveries to the Centralia Community Youth Center and Centralia Recreation Center.
