A Jacksonville community group that meets weekly to sing hymns in a Riverside bar is asking for help putting together lunches for people working on Thanksgiving.
Tim Kerr and his wife started a Beers and Hymns night at the bar The Silver Cow more than a year ago.
“You get together and you do just what it says: You drink beer and you sing old gospel tunes," Kerr told WJCT last October.
His group still meets the first Thursday of every month to sing. He said for some it’s spiritual, for others it’s just nostalgic or fun.
But this week, there won’t be any singing. Instead, Kerr's crew will meet Wednesday to assemble 100 bagged lunches to hand out to people working on Thanksgiving, like police officers, bus drivers and convenience stores clerks.
“We just want to reach out and say, ‘Hey, you’re not alone,’” he said.
Kerr aimed to raise $250 on a GoFundMe page but ended up getting more than $500 to buy the sandwiches, apples and ingredients for homemade pumpkin bars.
Kerr said if anyone wants to come have a beer, make lunches, “and hang out with some fun people, we’ll be there,” he said.
“We wanted to maybe give people the opportunity to reach out to the community if they don’t necessarily have a church home or a faith community,” Kerr said.
The lunch stuffing at the Silver Cow on King Street begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the group will hand the bags out Thanksgiving morning.
Photo: "Brown Bag (without staple)" used under Creative Commons.
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
