Rachael Ray Serves Up Feast In Wilmington

WILMINGTON, Ohio - WLWT.com

A gourmet Thanksgiving feast was served up for people in Wilmington thanks to celebrity chef Rachael Ray.

The NBC star was joined by Nick Lachey, and the band The Fray, as they cooked up turkey with all the trimmings for 2,000 people in a community that has taken a beating from the recession.

"Aside from just throwing a big party, a big Thanksgiving a big supper, we're stocking the food pantry a full year, we have job counselors out front helping people with their resumes and to get them online and get them thinking about how to find work," Ray said.

Ray's contribution a full year of supplies for the food pantry couldn't have come at a better time.

The need in this community has exploded since the loss of DHL, and now Sugartree Ministries said it finally has the facilities to take care of that need.

"Now we can do gourmet dining! It's amazing what they've done for us," Sugartree Ministries director Allen Willoughby said.

From beat up tables and chairs to a restaurant-quality dining room, the pantry has new shelving and plenty of groceries.

The kitchen would make any cook jealous. Refrigerators, freezers, stoves, cabinets -- all brand new -- and all stocked up. Sara Lee is pitching in with bread and meat for a full year!

"It took my breath away -- this is just unreal. I still have goose bumps thinking about it, seeing it all," volunteer Coleen Abney said.

The make over is all about making it easier for the people here to minister to the community.

Since the loss of DHL, they've gone from serving three meals a week to six. The crowd at some of those meals has gone from 150 to sometimes 300 people. For those in need all of this means a lot.

"They were just so happy to see the changes, that somebody from outside our community cares so much about us, and them," Willoughby said.

Willoughby -- who founded the ministry -- there is no doubt that this is an answered prayer.

"Probably two months ago we sat down and we though, 'What are we going to do, these numbers are doubling. How are we going to do this, you know?' And we actually got together and prayed and asked God to bless that, and I truly believe in all my heart that God did that through Rachael and her beautiful staff," Willoughby said.

One of the biggest problems now is figuring out where everything is, inside some of their brand-new fridges instead of worrying about how they're going to fill them all.

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