Honoring Our Citizens: Community Kitchen organizers lauded

February 12, 2013, 9:00 pm by James Walker

Ben and JoAnn Thomas, who began feeding Burnet’s hungry and less fortunate four years ago, were honored as Citizens of the Year by the Burnet Chamber of Commerce Saturday at its annual awards banquet.

The Thomases and their Community Kitchen operation began serving hot meals on Thursday nights at the Burnet Church of Christ on Feb. 19, 2009 and now it is up to four nights a week at other city churches.

"As I recall, the first night we were open we had around 40 people, most of whom were workers and those who came just to support our efforts,” Ben Thomas said. "Last Thursday night, we served 140.”

Community Kitchen serves 300 dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas days last year, according to Burnet chamber director Deborah Page, who presented the award to the Thomases.

For more of this story, and for a full list of honorees, see Wednesday's Burnet Bulletin.