Thanksgiving Gala raises funds for local shelters

Adrian O'Hanlon III, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·3 min read

Nov. 16—Dr. Barbara Smitherman said she hopes to keep giving back to the community through an annual Thanksgiving Gala.

The Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center and president of the McAlester United Area Ministers Fellowship said local pastors organized Tuesday's Thanksgiving Gala to help provide for area shelters.

"We are the body of Christ," Smitherman said. "We are his feet, we are his legs, we are his arms, we are his eyes, we are his mouth. And we are to do what Jesus did."

The McAlester United Area Ministers Fellowship started the Thanksgiving Gala last year with four sponsors — and it grew this year with 14 sponsors and more than 100 attendees Tuesday at Life Church.

This year's event raised enough money to provide $500 apiece to Hope House, Youth Emergency Shelter, Ki Bois Community Action Inc. Domestic Violence Center, and Good Samaritan Outreach.

Hope House is known as a homeless shelter for women and children, but provides several programs to help women get back on their feet.

Officials said women and children can stay up to a year if they make progress toward long-term goals depending on each individual situation.

Hope House, which became part of Shared Blessings in 2018, serves about 100 women each year to encourage them to find jobs and take courses for financial planning, career planning and more.

Youth Emergency Shelter, aka Y.E.S., at 904 N. Ninth St. in McAlester primarily serves children from birth to 18 years old, but a child can continue to stay if they have an education plan.

The organization is a shelter, but includes outpatient services to offer programs for counseling, youth offenders, chronic absentees, and more.

Y.E.S. — which has served the community for 52 years — also operates a truancy court, provides home visits to see why children aren't attending school, and connects people with other services as needed.

Good Samaritan Outreach is a nonprofit established in 2004 to leverage resources to love, feed, teach, and house military veterans and non-veterans in need.

The nonprofit serves about 300 men each year at 20 E. Cherokee Ave. in McAlester that will undergo some renovations in the near future.

Officials said GSO is working to implement aquaponics to grow food to continue serving people and to educate customers in the career field.

Ki Bois Community Action Inc. Domestic Violence Center serves victims of domestic violence.

The other half of the proceeds went to the United Ministers Fellowship, which uses those funds to help support McAlester-based nonprofit Shared Blessings, the baccalaureate at McAlester High School, local benefits like the Pittsburg County Community Thanksgiving Dinner, and more throughout the year.

United Area Ministers Fellowship officers include First Vice President James Hail, pastor of Abba's House; Secretary June Wilson and Treasurer, J.T. Cornell, pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene.

Ministers in the area formed the organization to help them work together for the McAlester area.

Life Church Pastor Terren Anderson, a vice president of the United Area Ministers Fellowship, thanked attendees and encouraged everyone to give back to the community.