Jennifer Rosso’s art students at Adams County Christian School got into the Thanksgiving spirit earlier this year by decorating gift bags for a brand new holiday charity, Natchez Community Thanksgiving Inc.

Students decorated 400 brown paper bags, all of which will be filled with candy and fruit and handed out at a free community lunch that will be served at the Natchez Convention Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

“The idea that they will not only come for a Thanksgiving meal, but also have a little something to take with them when they leave,” said Natchez Community Thanksgiving founder Karla Brown.

The Thanksgiving meal will be free for everyone with no criteria or conditions.

Some students decorated their bags with stickers and friendly notes while courageous or more artistic students drew turkeys and pilgrims on theirs.

“It’s really good to do that because I know we put a smile on someone’s face,” said Carrie Russel, 10.e grader at ACCS.

“I ask all of my art classes to decorate the bags,” Rosso said. “By the time we’re done we’ll have 400 of them all hand decorated. “

While the Thanksgiving community is new to Natchez, Brown started the first similar charity in Kansas just over 25 years ago. The idea came to her because she felt lonely, was away from her family, and couldn’t find anything else to do on Thanksgiving Day and no one to spend the holidays with.

Although it has since moved to other locations, the charity continues to serve people year after year.

Brown said she would like more student volunteers to help with what she hopes to become an annual charity event in Natchez.

“I would love for the basketball kids – and I say basketball because it would be that time of year – to come and volunteer an hour or two before Thanksgiving to help get things ready and on Thanksgiving Day. to help serve the food, ”Brown mentioned. “If we have enough ambitious young kids to volunteer, they could go online and cook the meal and bring it to the older guests at their table. “

Brown said some of the ACCS students have already accepted it and that she would like to involve other students from high school and Natchez Cathedral.

The cause will benefit not only other people, but local businesses as well, Brown said. The organization arranged to buy all the necessary food for The Markets.

“We tentatively plan to feed 400 people,” Brown said. “Because it’s the first year, we have no idea how many to expect. “

Brown asked those planning to attend community thanksgiving at RSVP by texting him at 907-540-0001. Those interested in volunteering can call or text Brown for more details, she said.

Monetary donations are also essential to help buy Thanksgiving food with all the fixings.

Natchez Community Thanksgiving Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that people can make tax-deductible donations to.

Checks can be made payable to Natchez Community Thanksgiving Inc. or NCT, Inc. and mailed to PO Box 2265, Natchez, MS, 39121.