Thanksgiving is a time when the year’s toils and struggles are put aside to feast on the fruits of the year’s labor, and to fellowship with others while showing our appreciation for the mercies in our lives.

One local extended family has chosen to share that occasion with any and all comers to the Dobbins Heights Community Center on Thanksgiving afternoon.

The Watkins/Kendall group is made up of nine first cousins who grew up in the house together after the Kendall children were orphaned.

The oldest sister, Wilma, was only 14 when their mother passed.

Angelina Kendall David was the second oldest sister of the family. She and her twin brother, Daniel, were 13 when Evelyn Watkins Kendall died. Their father had already departed.

After that, the seven Kendall children lived with their Aunt Betty Watkins, her two children and their grandfather, David recalled.

“Through all that, we didn’t always have the things we wanted, so now when we can help others, we want to do it,” she explained.

This will be the fourth year the family will do a free Thanksgiving dinner in Dobbins Heights, despite the fact they are not all in good health.

“We’re planning on doing it again this year on Thanksgiving, and anybody’s invited,” Angeline David said. “It’s really meant as a dinner for the homeless and the elderly, but anybody’s invited, anybody who lives by themselves or doesn’t have family around or even just doesn’t want to cook.

“We want anybody who wants to have fellowship to come and sit down with us, and eat some good food and just have that fellowship.”

The Watkins/Kendall family is composed of two sets of brothers and sisters and a first cousin to both sets.

The seven Kendall children make up the bulk of this group, while two Watkins children and one Robinson round it out. They are made up of oldest Wilma Kendall Huey, twins Angeline Kendall David and Daniel Kendall, Margaret Huey, Sandra Jamison and Everna Kendall.

The two Watkins children are Bobby and Patricia, and Robert Robinson is the other first cousin.

The idea to have this Thanksgiving dinner began after Thanksgiving one year, when Wilma and Sandra were sitting around the table talking.

“We just always had so many leftovers, because we would always try to make sure there was enough, and she had the idea we should do something to help the community with them,” Wilma recalled.

She said they’d donated the leftovers to local food agencies, but they decided to have an actual dinner and fellowship with the people they were helping after that conversation.

“They come and eat with us, and some of us may be in the serving line, or some of us may be sitting down with people and talking to them,” Wilma said. “We all just try to fellowship with the folks, and they look forward to it.”

David pointed out that while the turnout at the previous three dinners have been good, but the national recession and local plant closings and lost jobs make their dinner more timely than ever over the 2009 holidays.

“This year things have just been bad for so many people, and we want everybody to be able to just sit down and have a good Thanksgiving dinner

The Kendall family will have members traveling from as far as Maryland to attend the dinner, David said.

“And all of our kids are going to be there, of course,” she continued. “The children do most of the serving.”

David said all seven of the children have had their successes, including seeing everyone of the grandchildren attend college, but they’ve all also faced their share of discouragement throughout their adult lives.

“We’ve all had illnesses, I’ve had a couple of strokes and my own issues ... but things are going on in our lives and the Lord’s been good to us,” she said. “We want to share that with other people.”

Wilma said the mantle has really fallen on the next generation as the original Watkins/Kendall children have faced their own health issues.

“With many of us having our health issues and all, the responsibility has really gone to the next generation,” Huey said. “Now, they’re the ones that are doing all the work.”

Huey said the signs are encouraging that next generation will be just as interested in sharing their own reasons for giving thanks with others.

“They’ve said they want to keep doing it,” she said. “So, it should be around for a long time.”

Any and everyone is encouraged to come and eat on Thanksgiving Day. The dinner begins at 2 p.m. and lasts until everyone’s full.

If you need a ride or delivery, call Angeline at 582-1866, Wilma at ( 582-1866, or the Dobbins Heights Community Center at 582-0170.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.