The Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) of the University of Arkansas Community College Batesville (UACCB) on Tuesday, Nov. 18, helped serve up a Thanksgiving meal to approximately 200 students, faculty, and staff.
To host the meal, BCM Coordinator Janie Hall said she teamed up with the UACCB student activities director and food service director as well as two Independence Baptist Association churches, Cord Baptist Church and West Baptist Church.
Hall said this was their second year for the Thanksgiving meal. Last year, surprised by the turnout, they ran low on food. This year, they were prepared. She said they had an abundance of food, sending the extra to their local Our Father’s Table.
The BCM at UACCB hosts 12 meals a semester, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday, with each meal provided by a different church within the Independence Baptist Association. Along with the meal, the church pastor or another volunteer leads in prayer and a devotional. On average, Hall said they have anywhere from 30 to 50 individuals to attend the meals.
For this Thanksgiving meal, because of more advertisement, Hall said they were given the opportunity to feed and interact with nearly everyone on campus, allowing those individuals to learn more about the BCM and potentiallyhear God’s Word.
Hall said they were thrilled with the turnout. Tuesday’s Thanksgiving meal was their 12th and final meal of the semester.
In addition to the 12 meals a semester, Hall said they have a big “birthday party kick off” event in August, where they connect students with churches based on their birthdays. At the event, they have 12 churches, each representing a particular month, and when a student comes in, they go to their birthday month and sign up. That church will then send birthday cards and other notes of encouragement to the students throughout the year.
Hall said their weekly meals will start back in late January.