In their Brookhaven home, Charlie and Earline Williams wait eagerly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, anticipating that honk of a car horn that means the people from the Martha Sykes Widows and Orphans Center have arrived.

     For four or five years now, the couple has been waiting for the horn to honk, followed by the gate to their yard squeaking open and footsteps echoing up the porch and to the door, hot meals in hand.

     “It means a lot to me,” Earline Williams said.

     Twice weekly, volunteers of the Martha Sykes Center cook hot meals and deliver them to shut-ins and elderly in Lincoln County.

     The food is appreciated, but also clearly enjoyed.

     “I tell you one thing, we don’t throw it away,” Charlie Williams said, a smile on his face.

     His wife joined him with a smile and a compliment.

     “They’re great cooks,” she said. “I enjoy it.”

     The center has operated its meals on wheels program since the early 1990s and continues to see success.

     In September and October of this year, Martha Sykes volunteers served about 1,181 meals, which is pretty average for the center.

     And for the Martha Sykes Center and five other food pantries in Lincoln County, Christmas came early this year.

     Last week, The Daily Leader and Bank of Brookhaven totaled up the proceeds from the annual food pantry fundraiser and cut checks to six food pantries.

     Recipient ministries include Bethel A.M.E. Church, The Greater Hope Foundation, The Martha Sykes Center, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church and Union Hall Baptist Church.

     Each of the six food pantries received $1,533.34, for a total of $9,200 received in this year’s food pantry fundraiser.

     That’s the third-highest total in the nine years of food pantry drive. Last year saw a record-high with $11,000 in donations.

     In nine years, The Daily Leader and Bank of Brookhaven have collected more than $70,000 for local food pantries.

     “We thank the people of Lincoln County for their generosity,” said Daily Leader General Manager Rachel Eide.

     Caring and sharing is truly what Christmas is about.

     This was the ninth year of the food pantry fundraiser, and Bank of Brookhaven Vice President Shannon Aker believes it has continued to see success because local donors can see their dollars at work.

     “It’s an opportunity to help local people,” Aker said. “You can learn about these ministries and see their results.”

     And local people like Michael Harris are grateful that places like Martha Sykes can continue operating. He receives a meal from the center, and sees to it that five more friends of his get the meals.

     “It means they get a good, hot, well-balanced meal,” he said.

     The Rev. A.C. Herring with the center appreciates the words of people like Harris.

     “It makes me feel like what I’m doing is appreciated,” he said.

     And volunteers that cook the meals, like Inez Calloway, feel they’re following a higher calling.

     Said Calloway, “I look at it as a mission.”