Star Staff Reports
For the past eight years, SOUL OUT Ministries founder Carol Jenkins has spent her Thanksgiving at the Millington Baker Community Center located at 7942 Church Street.
This year because of the global pandemic, SOUL OUT Ministries could not do its traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the community at the community center. The organization decided to give out Thanksgiving boxes with all the trimmings.
Jenkins started her journey addressing hunger in the Millington community July 28, 2013 in Oak Park. She went from feeding the homeless men in the park to feeding the needy and anyone who were facing food insecurities inside Baker Community Center.
It started with delivering meals to the sick and shut in and hosting an annual Thanksgiving dinner.
In the past eight years, Jenkins Ministries, non-profit, has fed thousands of people in the Millington community using her personal funds and donations from others.
Jenkins gives honor to her mother Catherine C. Williams and Godmother Mary P. Montgomery. Both are now deceased. They helped Jenkins start this journey of feeding people in need. I am so thankful and grateful for the Memphis Omega Psi Phi Sigma Lambda Lambda Chapter Fraternity Inc., for supporting the feeding ministry in Millington since the beginning.
“When I call they come out with hands on supporting Soul Out Ministries in the Millington Community,” Jenkins said. “During the annual Thanksgiving feeding, they insist I sit down while they take charge in the kitchen at Baker Community Center. And making sure everyone who is sitting down is waited on, this year they provided all the turkeys that went into the Thanksgiving basket.
“It’s just a blessing to see young black men getting into good trouble,” she added. “I also thank my church family Mr. and Mrs. Emile Sigee, strangers who saw me shopping in the store for items that went into the Thanksgiving baskets, my family and host of friends who donated to this great cause to help some families prepare and have a Thanksgiving meal.”
Jenkins noted she could not have done it and have 25 baskets full of goodies without the help of everybody. Volunteers came together at the fellowship center of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church located at 8177 Quito Road to pack the boxes for the families.
“With God’s grace, mercy and my strength, we hope to be back together fellowshipping Thanksgiving 2021,” she concluded. “Soul Out Ministries’ mission is to feed anyone who is hungry and eliminate some of the food insecurities in our community.”
For more information, call Carol Jenkins at 949-1675, Soul Out Ministries, non-profit organization with a 501C(3).
