If your family needs help this Thanksgiving, then be at New Hope International on November 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

New Hope in Warner Robins is rounding up turkeys. 1500 to be exact. And while turkeys are the main course, there's more on the Thanksgiving menu. People who show up for Feed the City 2008 on November 25 from 9 to 4 p.m. will leave with everything they need for a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Last year, New Hope International planned to give away 300 turkeys and ended up providing Thanksgiving meals for 506 families from 17 surrounding counties.

This year, Feed the City 2008, a Thanksgiving outreach in Middle Georgia sponsored by New Hope International, is preparing to provide 1500 families with all the fixings needed for a Thanksgiving meal. "This year it's not just a New Hope thing. It's a community thing. Corporate sponsors including Kroger, Schwan's, WalMart, Circuit City and Cox have stepped up by donating food resources and money for advertisement. This is the first year for corporate sponsors," said Bishop Jeff Poole, pastor of New Hope International.

New Hope's getting area schools involved in the community outreach effort, too.

"Last year we started with Mossy Creek Middle and Huntington Middle Schools competing for collecting items needed. Huntington won with over 2000 items donated. This year, we've got a canned food drive competition going in all the middle schools of Houston County. It starts the first week of November," Bishop Poole said.

Feed the City has grown from an in-house ministry meeting the needs of people connected with the New Hope church family to a major Thanksgiving outreach to the community.

"We started out getting bags of food together for people we knew were going through a hard time within our church. We extended the ministry outward into the community in 2005. As the word has gotten out into the community about Feed the City, it has been awesome to see how it has grown. We have been able to assist so many more families each year. We care about people. It's one less burden for people who are already down and out to have to worry about. We are trying to be a place where people come to get their needs met," said Bishop Poole.

Feed the City involves all age groups at New Hope International in the preparation activities.

"When our church can rally people together to help people, it unites us more. You can see the difference you're making in people's lives," said Linda Thomas, Care Ministry Director at New Hope International, who oversees Feed the City.

"We get an assembly line going with all age groups on Monday night to fill the grocery bags and get everything ready for Tuesday. We'll have volunteers available to carry the food to cars on Tuesday. The children and youth love carrying the bags to the cars," Thomas added.

While New Hope requires patrons of its regular food pantry on Tuesdays to present a picture ID and have social security numbers for family members, those requirements don't apply for Feed the City.

"We trust that the families who show up for Feed the City are in need of some help," Thomas said.

You can help the Feed the City outreach ministry by donating food, money, or time.

New Hope is accepting, turkeys, yams, stuffing, green beans, Jell-O, cranberry sauce, corn, and bread. You can drop off food at Circuit City or at New Hope International (Monday to Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ) At Kroger, you can purchase a bag of groceries for a family, and Kroger will give New Hope the merchandise.

To donate money, make checks payable to NHI, P. O. Box 8308, WR, GA 31095, or donate online at www.feedthecity.net.

You can volunteer your time to help with the set-up on Monday night or the food giveaway on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. online at www.feedthecity.net.

Feed the City 2008 will be set up in the Children's and Youth Building at New Hope from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. New Hope International is located at Exit 144 (Russell Parkway) off of I75.

For more information, go to www.feedthecity.net.