A steady stream of cars pulled through the parking lot at Grace Lighthouse Church on Saturday afternoon, leaving with a hot dinner and goodwill from friendly parishioners who were distributing meals.

In the past, the church has hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, open to all, inside the church.

Although the coronavirus pandemic made that kind of gathering impossible, the church made sure to find a new way to make sure those in need could get a hot dinner for the holiday.

The church raised enough funds to purchase about 300 dinners-worth of traditional Thanksgiving foods from Lindsey’s Family Restaurant, which church members packed up into individual boxes. Kids brought the boxes down a row of tables as parishioners loaded them up with all the goodies: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans, then grabbed cranberry sauce and dessert before packing the dinners up with some extra fixings and a message from the church. 

“This is such a highlight of the year,” said Pastor Dave Beguerie. 

The church started planning its to-go Thanksgiving over the summer, and asked people to sign up online to reserve a meal. They also packed up a number of extra meals for walk-ups or people who didn’t sign up. 

“We’re going like clockwork,” said parishioner Pearl Alexander.

“Obviously, we’re giving out food, but we want to help people out spiritually as well,” said parishioner Marc DesRoches, who was in charge of welcoming those picking up meals. DesRoches said that many people asked for prayers as well.

For more about the church, go to www.gracelighthouse.org.