Community serves home-cooked meal to weary Thanksgiving travelers along I-35
By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos courtesy of SALADO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH and FME News Service archives
For 13 years and counting, Salado United Methodist Church has been serving up home-cooked Thanksgiving meals at the rest stops along Interstate 35.
“We had already been doing Thanksgiving boxes to the needy in our community for years,” said Rolly Correa, director of outreach at Salado United Methodist Church. “As our staff talked, we all felt there was a bigger need to address – the travelers on I-35.
“It seemed apparent to us that with this major highway going through our town, we had a great opportunity to reach the motorists who would otherwise not be eating a Thanksgiving meal,” he added. “We also knew that the truck drivers (who deliver our goods and services in Texas, and spend most of their
time working to replenish stores and supermarkets during the holidays) would benefit most from the outreach.”
Correa and his staff started planning. They agreed to buy turkeys and distribute them to volunteer cooks from their congregation. In addition, they asked for volunteers to make side dishes and desserts to complete their “home-cooked” holiday meal.
“Our people loved the idea, so the next thing we did was seek approval from (The Texas Department of Transportation) to obtain permits which would allow us to do that,” Correa said.
Local construction companies loaned the church some portable billboards which they set up several miles before the exit to the south-bound interstate. They brought barbecue pits to the site to keep food warm and it became a full course Thanksgiving dinner with green beans, sweet potato casseroles, dressing with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and drinks – given with a smile to any passing motorist.
“TxDOT would not allow us to collect any money, but our church had no intention of asking for money anyway, so that worked out well,” Correa said. “Our intentions were to be good servants to those who stopped, without asking anything in return.”
Since the original Thanksgiving meal 13 years ago, the outreach has expanded to both the southbound and northbound rest stops near Salado. Volunteers from many area churches now serve about 400 people a year, including highway department workers, law enforcement officers and truckers.
“Some folks return every year and plan their travel routes to eat with us,” Correa said.
Around 100 volunteers take shifts to serve, clean and talk to the travelers and listen to their stories. If the guests want volunteers to pray for them, they will do that too.
Folks who eat Thanksgiving at the rest stop are delighted to sign the guestbook. Over the years, people from all over the world have stopped by for a meal.
“It’s funny how many people and places we’ve touched over the years,” Correa said. One of his favorite stories is of a group of nuns from another country who stopped by one year. “They were just crying as they were served.”
In another instance, they had a man who was taking his wife back home from the hospital in Temple.
“They knew they were not going to have a Thanksgiving dinner for their family. Much to their surprise, when they pulled up to the rest stop, they noticed our church was feeding everyone there a full Thanksgiving dinner. We loaded them up with five or six to-go boxes to take back home with them so they were able to have dinner with their whole family. They left in tears thanking us, knowing that our church family gave up their own Thanksgiving Day to serve them.”
GET INVOLVED
Salado United Methodist Church
Address: 650 Royal St., Salado
Phone: 254-947-5482
Email: sumc@saladoumc.org
