his Thanksgiving, Muncie charity group Feed My Sheep hopes to serve full Thanksgiving meals to 1,000 people in the Muncie community.
People can receive meals through pick-up or dine-in at Muncie Central High School. They can also have the meal delivered to their home if needed. Each person receiving a meal will also get a bag of groceries.
Last year, FMS met its goal of feeding 800 people in need. FMS was founded in 1996 by George and Teresa Huggins, who retired to Atlanta two years ago. Ball State non-traditional student Micah Maxwell is the chairman of the steering committee for the second year in a row.
Maxwell began with FMS as a cook in 1999. At the time, he was working as assistant director of South Madison Community Center. They cooked Thanksgiving dinner for people there. They teamed up with FMS after being approached by the Huggins. Once the Huggins retired two years ago, Maxwell took over.
He said while Christian values play a role in FMS, the main goal is to help as many people in Muncie as possible.
"The need is there," Maxwell said. "Feeding people that are hungry is humanitarian and philanthropic. People of our community know that there are people that are hungry."
He said FMS had 306 volunteers as of Sunday night. For those who are still wanting to help out, FMS is seeking food donations.
Anyone looking to contribute can either donate canned goods or store-bought desserts like cakes or pies. For safety reasons, FMS will not be accepting homemade desserts.
Steering committee member and assistant professor of communication studies Peggy Fisher said the amount of donated canned goods so far is way down.
"I don't know how we are going to do this," Fisher said. "We are anticipating 1,000 people. We won't have enough food to cover a quarter of them."
Students wanting to donate food can take their canned goods to Fisher's office in David Letterman Communication and Media Building Room 312.
FMS intern and senior organizational communication major Maggie Doyle is receiving three internship credits for her degree through FMS. She said the internship opportunity has been great.
"I wanted to be involved with Feed My Sheep anyway," Doyle said. "I have had a lot more involvement with Muncie and with the churches. I have learned so much more than I ever expected."
For the semester, Doyle has been contacting people all over Delaware County in hopes of gaining more donations. Part of her job was calling all schools in the county to see if they could drop off a trash toter for students to place canned good items in.
FMS has 31 different sites with drop-off toters. People are encouraged to keep donating items through Wednesday night.
Wednesday and Thursday, volunteers will not only be picking up toters, but also preparing food for the Thanksgiving meal. This year's meal includes sliced roasted turkey breast, cornbread dressing, macaroni and cheese, green beans, real mashed potatoes, fried creamed corn, turkey gravy, Texas Roadhouse rolls and butter, assorted desserts and drinks.
Financial donations are also accepted. FMS steering committee member Jeannine Lee Lake said it doesn't take much money to truly make a difference.
"Look into your heart, even if you just find a little," Lake said. "A $4 donation will feed one person, [and] $20 will feed a family of five. Even just a canned good will help."
FMS will be accepting delivery orders through 1:30 p.m. and be serving dinner until 3 p.m. at Muncie Central on Thursday.
Maxwell said Ball State students make up a big part of FMS's success.
"The most important thing to me is that there are Ball State students make up a large percentage of the Muncie community," Maxwell said. "While Ball State students are here, they are apart. It is important for them to touch the hands of their neighbors for nine months during the year. If [students] need a meal, we want to be available to meet [their] needs as well."
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