Scholarship program added to community dinner event
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

Overflowing generosity has allowed the upcoming Community-Wide Thanksgiving Day Dinner to provide yet another service to the area.

The El Campo community stepped up to make the annual event bigger and better than ever, donating their time and money to the celebration.

"I can't think of a thing that we've come up short on," said Danny Roberts, pastor of New Life Assembly of God, who has coordinated the holiday meal event since it began 10 years ago in its current form. "In fact, we've just been overly blessed. That's been the case ever since I started doing this."

During this year's celebration, dinner organizers are adding a new service to the community: scholarships.

"We're blessed this year fi- nancially, and we want to put back into the community," Roberts said. "We always have door prizes, but this year we're doing something real special, so we want to give some college scholarships."

Roberts said what's unusual about the three or so scholarships is they're not limited to high school seniors.

"We're not only going to have them for high school seniors, but also for someone like a single parent that wants to go back to the junior college," he said. "It can also be for the adults in the community who want to better themselves. I know I took a Wharton County Junior College course last year to advance in my studies, and I know there are other families that want to better themselves. We want to help."

The scholarships will go either to adults who volunteer to work during the dinner, or their children who are graduating seniors.

"We're looking right now in the ball park of $200 to $300 each, depending on our funds," Roberts said.

Winners will be announced during this year's event, held Thanksgiving Day at the El Campo Civic Center.

"We don't have all the details worked out yet, but I think at the dinner we're going to have all the workers who are interested fill out the application," Roberts said. "They'll be picked by a committee who've all been with the dinner for all 10 years."

He said the scholarships are all part of the nature of the annual dinner. "We want to put back into our community because our community supports us," he said. "This year's dinner is going to be the greatest ever. Of course, I say that every year!"