Fire Doesn’t Burn Thanksgiving Plans for Gulf Coast Rescue Mission

Many of us our counting our blessings this Thanksgiving holiday and the men who live and work at the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission are no exception.
News 25’s Kristen Durand dropped by as they served up their annual holiday feast, a tradition that not even a recent fire could destroy.
Each Thanksgiving, the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission serves up hundreds of meals to our community. The line was a little shorter this year, mostly men who live at the shelter. This day, using the same hands to eat that they’ve used to start rebuilding after a fire ripped through their main building back in September. Gulf Coast Rescue Mission Executive Director Reverend Tom Mims said, “You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. Everything can be alright then the next thing you know a catastrophic event can take place in your life and so that’s changed me.”
While there’s never been a doubt they’d rebuild, it was Reverend Mims’ wife Tammy who held fast to her faith when it came to serving up this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. “Myself, I thought we couldn’t do it and it didn’t look good, but my wife, she was determined. We’ve done this now for 30 years and she was just determined to do it and a couple of weeks ago we made a decision not to do it and it just broke her heart,” said Reverend Mims.
But like any good man, Reverend Mims listened to his wife and they all took time out to enjoy the mission’s annual holiday meal, reflecting on so much to be thankful for, in light of the outpouring of support from the community, while enjoying a feast with all the trimmings and a slice of home. Gulf Coast Rescue Mission Assistant Director Sean Smith said, “Thanksgiving and Christmas is a hard time to be here away from your family, but maybe they’ll find a new family here or maybe next time they go see their family it will be in a different light.”
The slab is all that remains of the main building that burned down in September, but they hope to begin construction on the new facility in January with hopes of having an even bigger Thanksgiving next year. “We feed somewhere between 500 and 700 meals. We hope to feed over a thousand meals next year. Instead of one large building, we’ll have two buildings. We’re going to have a thrift store and a new kitchen, a bigger kitchen, a bigger dormitory and some offices,” said Reverend Mims.
And a whole new outlook on life to be thankful for.