Faith adds to turkey 'n trimmings at Bethel AME

MILLVILLE – The turkey landed, as it does every year, a day early in the hall behind Bethel AME Church.

Wednesday was the 17th year for Bethel Development Corp., the nonprofit arm of the South Millville church, to open its food kitchen to serve Thanksgiving Day fare to the poor and increasingly the working poor that have come to know of the faith-based nonprofit whether they live here or elsewhere in Cumberland County.

The Rev. Charles E. Wilkins expected 400 to 450 people, individuals and families or groups of friends, to cycle through the doors over several hours. The Thanksgiving Day Grand Celebration builds on everyday food pantry and soup kitchen operations.

“We’ve got more working people now than we ever had in the history of the food pantry,” Wilkins said. “They use this to subsidize. We’ve got a crew that comes in for lunch every day. If it wasn’t for the freeholders, and the city, and kind-hearted people, we wouldn’t make it each year.”

Wilkins said a big donation this year allowed Bethel to buy a food storage building, replacing a trailer that had stocked goods for the food pantry and kitchen.

“And we can store probably four times the food we did with the trailer, plus it’s above ground, so guys don’t have to go up and down stairs anymore,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got a little over 1,800 households registered that get groceries at different times of the year.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department had two officers working at Bethel, one of them Millville Mayor Michael Santiago. Millville Police Chief Jody Farabella ladled food with church volunteers.

Santiago said this is his second year as a server.

“The best thing is everyone here is smiling,” Santiago said. “Waiting patiently, but smiling. The way he (Wilkins) does it is remarkable.”

Adonai Velasquez, who said he is homeless and from Vineland, called it a “great service.”

“It’s in the house of the Lord and you can’t go wrong,” he added.

“It’s been busy,” said Corina Gadson, Bethel’s operations director and Wilkins’ daughter. “A lot of new faces. A lot of children this year.”

Gadson said a number of people joined the volunteer serving ranks for this Thanksgiving dinner, too. A lot of them were people Bethel had helped and who wanted to give back, she said.

Joseph P. Smith; (856) 563-5252; jsmith@gannettnj.com