Volunteers like John Varnell endured a chilly Tuesday morning outside New Life Church preparing each turkey to be fried Pine Bluff style, as he calls it.
His definition of Pine Bluff style: “Deep fried and with extra love.”
Rows of propane tanks and fryers with bubbling oil lined the parking lot of New Life’s Jefferson Square campus, donating at least 75 to the Delta Network Food Bank and at least 25 to Neighbor to Neighbor, two Pine Bluff agencies working to combat hunger in the area. Donors were asked to bring two thawed turkeys each — one for themselves and another to give — for frying.
“What we try to do is try to get people back to work, families back together and restore hope in the community,” said church Pastor Matt Mosler, who had been frying since 6:30 a.m. “Part of restoring hope is getting people to serve again, tapping into a serve mentality because God promises He will give back to you, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing, but first you’ve got to give.”
Varnell has volunteered with the fry for seven years. He and others had prepped 115 turkeys for frying by 10:15 a.m.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“It’s a great way to bring everybody together for a great cause, and the community gets the reward,” Varnell said. “You get to donate back. That’s what it’s about, spreading that love and the blessing back to those who are in need to meet those needs.”
Jacqueline Ross of Delta Network Food Bank said most of the turkeys her organization would hand out Tuesday were being donated by the church, as volunteers loaded the cooked birds in her van.
“The families that we serve would not have this level of protein if we did not get these donations from Suzano (which recently acquired the Pactiv Evergreen mill) and New Life Church, so we are just forever grateful,” Ross said. “Somebody will have a turkey on their table that would not have if we had not had this donation. It’s a wonderful thing to look and see all the camaraderie and working together and making it happen. It looks like a blessing when it’s work. It’s a blessing to the community. It’s certainly a blessing to us.”
Peanut oil boils as a turkey is fried on the parking lot of New Life Church. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Propane tanks keep turkey fryers in working order as volunteers fry the birds for those in need. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)