CONWAY — The annual Conway community Thanksgiving dinner is growing. In addition to the annual meal on Thanksgiving, two organizations are working together to expand a banquet that will be served at two other locations on the Sunday before the holiday.

In its third year hosted by Centennial B an k, t he 20-year-old event will take place this year on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, at First United Methodist Church in Conway.

The event was started by Bob and Catherin Blankenship as a service to the community. They held the event at Second Baptist Church in Conway for many years, until their children grew up and moved away.

“The last year they did their Thanksgiving meal, I heard they were looking for someone to take it over,” said Lori Case, senior vice president and director of marketing at Centennial Bank. “I told my boss that I thought we should do it. He wasn’t too sure, but I said, ‘We feed hundreds of people at cookouts all the time. We can do this.’”

So they did.

Through the years, the event has grown, and this year, organizers at Centennial Bank are partnering with The City of Hope Outreach in Conway to offer a banquet on Nov. 20 at two additional locations in Conway: Brookside Trailer Park and the Oakwood Mobile Home Village.

For several years, The City of Hope has held an annual Thanksgiving banquet for the individuals and families the organization serves. Executive Director Phillip Fletcher is excited to partner with Centennial Bank to meet the growing needs in the community.

Case said the excitement was mutual.

“ The y are helping us, and we’re helping them,” she said. “It means we will get to serve more people, people that wouldn’t get out of their neighborhood or ask for a meal to be delivered.”

Last year’s event at First United Methodist fed about 700 people, including about 300 meals that were delivered.

This year, organizers are preparing for 1,000.

Case is confident all the meals will be distributed and put to good use. In fact, she’s ordered 1,050 just in case.

“We don’t ask questions,” Case said. “Some of our recipients aren’t low-income; they’re just lonely, and that’s fine, too.”

Fletcher said his favorite part of the event at the Oakwood Mobile Home Village is seeing the volunteers and recipients of the meal interact.

“These are people who wouldn’t come together on a regular basis,” Fletcher said,“but when you take a step back and look at everybody sitting down to eat together, everyone is on the same level.”

The event is the product of long hours of planning by Case and a special committee. They are still looking for volunteers for all three meals.

The last day to register to have a meal delivered from the First United Methodist Church event is Friday. To reserve a meal, call (501) 328-4859.

Staff writer Caroline Zilk can be reached at (501) 244-4326 or czilk@arkansasonline.com.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 165 on 11/13/2011