{"id":3211,"date":"2012-11-23T11:36:11","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T16:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2012-11-23T11:36:49","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T16:36:49","slug":"coatesville-congregation-feasts-on-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3211","title":{"rendered":"Coatesville congregation feasts on giving back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving outreach attracts assistance from police, city government<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Coatesville City Manager Kirby Hudson (left) prepares to serve a Thanksgiving dinner at the Jubilee Christian Center. To his right is Councilman Jarrell Brazzle.<\/p><\/div>\n

Seventeen years ago, a Coatesville pastor visiting the city\u2019s Community Center heard a homeless person ask for change for a cup of coffee, an experience that launched a far-reaching ambition.<\/p>\n

Pastor Frank Fullwood of the Jubilee Christian Center said he wanted to ensure that people in his city weren\u2019t going hungry, and he and his congregation began providing meals to the needy, an outreach that has grown, particularly during the recession.<\/p>\n

On Thanksgiving Day, Pastor Fullwood and his faithful spent hours preparing a feast for an unknown number of guests. With gospel music playing in the background, more than a dozen volunteers scurried around the kitchen in an unmarked building in the 900 block of East Lincoln Highway, juggling trays heaped with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables and more.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Frank Fullwood dishes out some of Chef Bill’s acclaimed cuisine on Thanksgiving Day.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the past 15 years, the church, which is now officially designated as a county Feeding and Food Distribution Center, has prepared a full meal every Tuesday and Thursday.\u00a0 Pastor Fullwood said the number of visitors often declines on holidays. \u201cSome people are able to find other places to go, such as with family,\u201d he said.\u00a0 But the church is ready for those lacking that option \u2013 and eager to make the dinner special.<\/p>\n

This year, the volunteers got some extra help to accomplish that. Normally, guests walk down a serving line and help themselves. On Thanksgiving, they received table service.\u00a0 The wait staff included Coatesville\u2019s newly hired police chief, Stephen Johnson; City Manager Kirby Hudson; and City Councilman Jarrell Brazzle.<\/p>\n

Johnson, a former Philadelphia Police deputy commissioner\u00a0who doesn\u2019t officially start working until Dec. 10,\u00a0 said he inquired about holiday community-service opportunities because he typically performs them in Philadelphia and wants to become familiar with Coatesville. He learned about the Thanksgiving meal from Coatesville Police Officer Rodger Ollis, a regular volunteer at\u00a0 Jubilee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we should be doing, helping people,\u201d said Johnson, who quickly donned an apron and plastic gloves and pointed out that his backwards baseball cap was strictly off-duty attire.<\/p>\n

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Newly hired Coatesville Police Chief Stephen Johnson leans over to serve a meal at the Jubilee Christian Center on East Lincoln Highway.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tammy Brooks, the church clerk, would agree. \u201cIt\u2019s just more gratifying to give,\u201d she said. \u201cThe economy is tearing people up, and the opportunity to be able to provide a good meal with a tender touch and a smile is a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks said the feeding program began with visits to a city shelter housing 20 to 30 residents and expanded when the church purchased its building on East Lincoln Highway in 1999. After the recession hit, the church saw the need double, she said, going from about 50 a week to 100. More recently, the ministry has provided meals to up to 140 at a time. It has also started a drug recovery program and runs a summer Vacation Bible School.<\/p>\n

Brooks said Pastor Fullwood\u2019s energy fuels their mission. \u201cHe loves this so much and has been doing it for so long,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s his passion. Often, he\u2019s in another zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the congregation of about 60 has its hands full with the burgeoning meal program, she said Pastor Fullwood has dreams of renovating the building for youth outreach activities and tutoring. In the meantime, she said they are grateful for being able to fill a void \u2013 and accomplish it in such an appetizing fashion.<\/p>\n

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Coatesville Police Officer Rodger Ollis shows one of his assistant servers, Jasmine Bowman, 3, how to fold the napkins.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pastor Fullwood said he is particularly thankful for Bill Roane, a church member who happens to be a retired corporate chef and oversees the food preparation.\u00a0\u201cHis tuna casserole is to die for,\u201d added Brooks.<\/p>\n

Recipients of the Thanksgiving meal \u2013 about 50 total – echoed the praise, as volunteers began packaging the leftovers, some of which will be frozen for later use and some of which were destined for area food cupboards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meals are always good here,\u201d one man said.<\/p>\n

Another, who described himself as a homeless veteran, concurred. \u201cI\u2019m glad I made it\u00a0 here today. I really appreciate this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Thanksgiving outreach attracts assistance from police, city government By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Seventeen years ago, a Coatesville pastor visiting the city\u2019s Community Center heard a homeless person ask for change for a cup of coffee, an experience that launched a far-reaching ambition. Pastor Frank Fullwood of the Jubilee Christian Center said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,1],"tags":[792,24,1017,1171,749,1169,1125,1170],"class_list":["post-3211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","category-uncategorized","tag-city-manager-kirby-hudson","tag-coatesville","tag-councilman-jarrell-brazzle","tag-jubilee-christian-center","tag-officer-rodger-ollis","tag-pastor-frank-fullwood","tag-stephen-johnson","tag-tammy-brooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}