Those looking to get their sweet potato fix or maybe stock up for the holidays need look no further than West Point this weekend.

The annual Harriet Gaskin Sweet Potato Giveaway is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday at the First Christian Church of West Point, located at 599 E. Broad St.

The event was started in 2013 by best friends Monty Yates and Herb Duncan, who got the idea when a mutual friend bought a crate and gave them some. It has grown over time, and now gives out a total of 6,000 pounds, or six crates, of sweet potatoes each year.

“(Herb and I) decided that we would go buy a crate apiece and take them to the church on Saturday, and give them away,” Yates said. “We decided the next year, we would up it to four crates. We took donations for those, from the church, and got plenty of money to get the four crates. … The next year, we went to six crates. We tried seven for a couple of years, but we discovered that six was pretty much the saturation point.”

The sweet potatoes are purchased in Vardaman the Friday before the event.

Volunteers bag the potatoes, usually six to eight pounds per bag, and the bags are given out until the potatoes are gone.

Attendees are urged to show up early, however, because the supply dwindles fast.

“In an hour and a half, they’ll be gone,” he said. “Six thousand pounds of sweet potatoes will be gone.”

The event requires people who are physically able, to get out of the vehicle and come get the potatoes as well, leading to face-to-face interaction.

“It’s been a great ministry for the church,” he said. “We want people to get out of the car. We want you to get out, we want you to smile, we want you to shake a hand, we want to say ‘God bless you,’ and sit and visit for a while if you’d like.”

The event also serves to bring the members of the church together.

“It is a great activity for the youth and all of the members to get together and do something for the community, and it’s just fun,” Duncan said. “Everybody has a good time.”

The ultimate goal is to help people though.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “You wouldn’t think that a sack of sweet potatoes would mean so much to some people, but it does.”

The namesake of the giveaway, Harriet Gaskin, was a regular volunteer with the event. When she passed away in 2017, the decision was made to name the event in her honor.

“She donated money and helped every year,” Yates said. “She passed away a few years ago, and she was such an integral part of helping. We loved her so much, and when she passed, it just felt right to give her the credit.”