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NATCHEZ — Workers and volunteers at the Stewpot are gearing up to feed Natchezians on Thanksgiving Day and they need help from the community to do so.

The Stewpot serves about 300 meals to shut-ins and others who need a meal each day of the year. On Thanksgiving, Stewpot Director Marcus Archer said the crew will serve almost 400 meals.

The Stewpot no longer needs turkeys, but it needs people in the community to help cook those turkeys.

“We put out a call for turkeys a little more than a week ago and we now have 80 turkeys in our freezers. This community answered that call super fast. Turkeys fill up a freezer quickly,” Archer said.

Those who can help cook a turkey or two for the Stewpot are asked to pick up a frozen one at  96 E. Franklin St., between 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Home cooks are then asked to take the turkey home and bake it, as well as debone the turkey and put the deboned meat into a gallon-sized freezer bag and return it to the Stewpot by Friday, Nov. 22.

“If they will put the cooked meat in a freezer bag and return it to us by Friday, Nov. 22, we can then freeze it until Thanksgiving. Turkey meat freezes and thaws quickly,” he said.

The Stewpot also needs donations of potatoes or prepared potato salad that can be bought at one of the local grocery stores.

“We need potatoes, not sweet potatoes. It takes a really long time for sweet potatoes to break down. If someone wants to donate sweet potatoes, we ask that they be canned, like canned yams,” Archer said.

The potatoes or potato salad are also needed at the Stewpot by Nov. 22.

In addition, donations of dinner rolls and prepared desserts are needed, too.

“Desserts and rolls, because they are prepared, can be brought to the Stewpot on Monday or even Tuesday, Nov. 25 or 26,” he said.

Cakes, pies, cookies and brownies are needed as desserts. However, cakes without frosting are preferred because frosting becomes too messy to plate. Powdered sugar on cakes is preferred.

Archer said the Thanksgiving menu consists of turkey, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, potato salad, a dinner roll and dessert.

“Some people have asked us, ‘What if all the donations aren’t used on Thanksgiving day?’ What people need to remember is we will turn around on Friday and feed 300 people again, and the same on Saturday, and on and on. Johnnie Davis, who has prepared food here for 36 years and leads the kitchen at the Stewpot, is really intentional about not wasting food. If someone gives something, or we have an abundance of something donated for Thanksgiving, it will go out the next day or Saturday. It will make it to a plate within the next few days,” he said. “We feed 300 people a day every day all year long.”

The Stewpot is a special organization because it is Natchez feeding Natchez, Archer said.

“Every donation is greatly appreciated because at the Stewpot, we get to facilitate feeding people. Natchez is feeding Natchez. We will deliver 170 of the meals we prepare to shut-ins. Natchez gets to feed its community. That’s always a really cool picture. I like to remind people of how much we appreciate them because they are literally feeding someone,” he said.