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The prayer for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Brundidge on Tuesday was for God to “bless us so that we may bless others.

The prayers of those who gathered were answered. Nearly 800 were so blessed.

Those who gathered to prepare, package and deliver Thanksgiving dinners to the sick, the shut-ins and the elderly in the extended Brundidge community agreed that they, too, were “richly blessed.”

Since 2001, former National Football League star Cornelius Griffin, his family and friends have been hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner and, Griffin said, “We are the ones who are blessed by doing this.”

For Griffin, the annual Thanksgiving dinner is a way to show his appreciation to those in his hometown who have nurtured and supported him throughout his youth, his high school, college and professional football careers and into his role as a husband, father and role model for the youth of his community.

Griffin gives credit for the annual community dinner to his mother, Martha Griffin, his wife, Kimberly, and a host of church and community members and friends who give of their time and talents to make Thanksgiving a time of “blessings.”

Griffin said each person who participates in the annual Thanksgiving community dinner receives a special blessing for having done so.

Martha Griffin said those who prepare the annual Thanksgiving dinner do so out of love for others and for their community.

“The Bible tells us that what we give to others comes back in blessings,” Griffin said. “And, with those blessings we are able to bless others and our community is also blessed in turn.”

Griffin said, the dinners require a dedicated community-wide effort.

The dinners begin with the tiling of the soil. From the seeds come the harvest.

“And, what a blessing that is. A blessing from God,” Griffin said.

Robert Boyd grows the vegetables, from the greens to the potatoes and the ladies harvest, prepare and cook the dinners.

“A lot of the workers have not been to bed at all,” Griffin said. “They do this because they love the Lord and their neighbors as themselves. They truly want to do for those who need care.”

Cornelius Griffin said “We are blessed to be able to do this. All blessings come from our Lord.”