Thanksgiving will come early this year for those whose tables might not be laden with the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

At noon on Saturday, members of the Teamsters National Black Caucus, the youth department of Dunn Chapel AME Church and Rosetta Sanders Recreation Department will provide a traditional Thanksgiving carryout dinner for the elderly, handicapped or unfortunate at the Teamsters Local 1150 membership hall at the intersection of Tate and South Three Notch Street in Troy.

Sharon Green, Dunn Chapel representative, said this year will be the third year that the Thanksgiving dinner has been made available to the community.

“Most of the meal is ordered locally and we split the cost between the different groups,” Green said. “We have turkey, dressing, potato salad, a vegetable and cake. The meal is served in carryout containers and can be picked up or delivered upon request.

“We will deliver the meals to those who call and give us their name and address. We’ll also reserve plates for those who call in advance but we’ll have plates ready for those who just drop by. We prepare for about 100 and we’ve been having between 80 and 100. So far, we’ve had enough food for all those who come.”

The numbers to call for delivery or reservations are 334-566-8896, 268-4663, 372-1712, 566-9759 or 334-202-6569.

Then on Tuesday, Nov. 23, in Brundidge, Cornelius Griffin will host Thanksgiving dinner for the elderly, disabled, sick and shut-ins in the Brundidge area. Griffin was a gridiron star at Pike County High School and the University of Alabama and played 10 seasons in the NFL. He began hosting the community Thanksgiving dinners in 2001 as a way of showing appreciation to the townspeople for their support and encouragement over the years.

His mother, Martha Griffin, coordinates the dinners with the able assistance of family, the ladies of Lily White Church and New Jerusalem Temple and the Brundidge Rotary Club.

“We serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and we try to have vegetables fresh from the garden – the turnips, collards, sweet potatoes and beans,” Griffin said. “We have dressing, potato salad, cakes and, this year, we’ll have pecan pies.”

Last year, Griffin and company served more than 700 meals, most of them carryouts.

“This year, we already have more than 400 people on the list for carryouts,” Griffin said. “We have a team that works up the list and many of the names are from last year’s list. And, we have names submitted to us. We also have a lot of people who come to the Brundidge Station to eat with us.”

For the Griffins and all of those who work so hard to make Thanksgiving special for others, their reward is in having done something for to make holiday happy and special for a “wonderful and special group of people.”