INOLA — 480 more families will now have a Thanksgiving turkey, thanks to Islamic Relief USA.
The turkeys were handed out at Inola's Unity Temple Family Church's monthly food pantry on Friday.
JoAnn Matthews, one of the many waiting in line at the church, said food insecurity is an issue in Inola. "This whole area, people are down. You know. It's hard. It's hard to make a living," she said.
The church's pastors, Arnetta Cotton and her husband Earrak Cotton, aim to address this need in the community by collaborating with Islamic Relief USA.
Arnetta described their partnership: "They are a division of the USDA. We met with them in Washington D.C. about five years ago, and explained to them what we were doing in this community, and where we were located in rural northeast Oklahoma," said Arnetta. "We needed help, you know, because we wanted to serve people."
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Another beneficiary, Rowena Beach, expressed her gratitude, noting the impact of this assistance on her family's Thanksgiving plans. "It's gonna be well. I'll probably just get a little ham from somewhere. A small ham then have the turkey, so that's good," she shared.
Highlighting a sense of community, Arnetta spoke about the family atmosphere between volunteers and beneficiaries at the church. "We're thankful. We cry together and we laugh together and we love together and we support one another," said Arnetta. See how many volunteers? Different ethnicities, different age groups," she said.
United Temple Family Church is hosting a community-wide Thanksgiving service & dinner on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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