Those who say we have lost the spirit of Thanksgiving must not be paying attention because gratitude, charity and fellowship were shared among thousands of people in the area on Thursday.

In Sylacauga people of various backgrounds, races and socioeconomic statuses came out to both eat a delicious meal and volunteer their services by serving, delivering and preparing the food for the Communitywide Thanksgiving Dinner at Reaching the World Bible Church. This is the seventh year for the event.

Sylacauga’s Promise committee member and one of the organizers for the dinner Taylor Logan said, “We fed a ton of people. The best estimate we can come up with is between 1,750 and 2,000 people. We don’t have an exact number.”

Logan said the total number served would easily surpass the record from last year. Despite the high volume, there were not any complaints from those in attendance.

Nora Pardue, of Childersburg, said, “I didn’t have family coming home, and everybody else was going elsewhere, so I decided I just wanted to come here. I’ve been here a couple of years. They really do a good job. It just makes me feel good.”

Donnie Royal said, “I came out to be around everybody and enjoy this great meal. I really enjoy it. It would be nice if every day was like today.”

Juanita Looney, mother of Reaching the World Bible Church pastor the Rev. Henry Looney, has participated in the Thanksgiving dinner every year.

“I always enjoy the fellowship with everyone every year,” Looney said. “It looks like there are more and more people every year, and that’s good because there are more and more people being fed.”

Clyde L. Henderson said he enjoyed being able to see some of the people that he knew and the delicious food, though he had to watch what he ate.

Logan said things got a little nerve-wracking when a couple of food items started to run low, but thanks to Coosa Valley Medical Center they were able to serve everyone all the traditional Thanksgiving sides.

Logan was thrilled with the number of people who showed up to volunteer at the dinner. She estimated the number to be between 200 and 250, which included many school-age and college-age people who were out of school for the holiday break.

“We really just want to say thank you to everybody. Today is really about the community of Sylacauga coming together and making this happen,” Logan said. “The ability this community has to care about each other is amazing.”

Not to be outdone was the Ironaton Church of Christ which served approximately 600 Thanksgiving plates to people in the Talladega area, volunteer Linda Pate said.

“That’s a little bit of an increase from what we did in the last few years, but we did really well with it,” Pate said.

Much like Sylacauga’s community dinner, Ironaton Church of Christ was turned into a serving center where people could dine in or take out.

Pate was also pleased with the participation of volunteers this year. She estimated between 50 and 75 people showed up to help. The church has done a Thanksgiving dinner for four years, and Pate said everyone involved seems to enjoy the process.

“It just gives you a warm feeling to help somebody on a holiday,” Pate said. “That’s a time of year when many people can feel the loneliest.”