VIDALIA — A group of Vidalia residents who banded together last year to thank town employees for their service with a Christmas Luncheon is asking members of the community to help with this year’s event.

Vidalia resident Martha Lushute said each day the town’s employees often go above and beyond their call of duty to help the people of the community live comfortably and the town to prosper, so she and a group called Volunteers of Vidalia assembled last December to provide a Christmas luncheon to those employees as a simple way of saying “thank you.”

“We put on this luncheon for town employees just to say thank you for services they provide,” Lushute said. “This includes streets, utilities, sanitation, police, fire and administrative services and anyone who works for the town.”

Last year, a group of about 6 to 10 people put together a meal to feed 168 town employees in approximately five days, Lushute said.

“This year, we’re hoping to make it bigger and better,” she said. “… We hope that other people in the community will come together and get involved this year by bringing a dish to help us serve.”

Lushute said community members could support the upcoming luncheon on Dec. 12 at the fire station on Vernon Stevens Boulevard with donations of food, vouchers, gift cards or monetary donations for meal essentials.

“We have a lot of amenities here in Vidalia that most towns our size don’t have,” Lushute said. “These people come out in the middle of the night while it’s storming and raining to help turn the utilities back on. … We have an amazing ambulance team and the administration is always there to answer any questions that the people have. They all go the distance.”

Lushute said those who would like to donate should contact her at 318-719-0826 before Nov. 15 so that meal preparation plans can be made. Food purchases and monetary donations for the event would also be accepted at Hick’s Chicks in Natchez by contacting Raymond Murray at 601-445-8140, Lushute said.