Church gives 200 turkey dinners

0

GREENVILLE – Solid Rock Apostolic Church helped make Thanksgiving a little better for 200 area residents. On Saturday morning, the church’s congregation gave away 200 turkeys along with a laundry basket filled with all of the trimmings, including pies. This is the second consecutive year the church has made the giveaway part of their ministry.

According to Lougena Martinez, a member of the church and a volunteer handing out the groceries, this year’s event was double what they were able to do last year. “Last year we did a hundred and this year our pastor had a vision of 200,” she said. In order to accommodate 200 vehicles, half of the baskets and turkeys were given at the church’s location near Bradford on U.S. Route 36 and the other half was given at the Darke County Fairgrounds.

Before the giveaway began, Martinez said they had already reached the 100 mark at the fairgrounds and were sending late comers to their church. Vehicles were snaked around the fairgrounds waiting for the distribution to begin at 9 a.m. She said she arrived at 5:50 a.m. and there were already five cars in line. Unlike last year where it took approximately two hours to give away 100 turkeys, this year it took 33 minutes for the church to giveaway all it had.

Martinez said they do this because “Jesus is all about love and this is how we show love. It is by being His hands and feet, His servants to guide people toward God. God is the answer. We want to bless our community. We want to bless our church, the people in our church. It is an amazing outreach for our community. We love our community and want to help any way we can.”

Not only did the church members giveaway food, they also had an opportunity to talk and minister to those who were receiving the food. Martinez said, “We’ve had the opportunity to talk to people, pray over people, and get their prayer requests.”

In order to collect enough food for 200 meals, the church hosted several fundraisers as well as taking up collections at the church. “People in the church are amazing givers,” she said. They were asked to donate different items each week and the church’s members came through. They also had several anonymous donors that gave money to help purchase items. One of the fundraisers was assisting at the food truck rallies with parking. They were also able to collect non-perishable food items at those rallies.

Over 30 volunteers from the church were on-hand at both locations to help with the giveaway. “It’s amazing when you come together for a goal for God that people want to help,” she concluded.

One hundred baskets and turkeys were ready to be given to area residents at the Darke County Fairgrounds. Another 100 were given out at Solid Rock Apostolic Church.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_solid-rock-turkey-w.jpgOne hundred baskets and turkeys were ready to be given to area residents at the Darke County Fairgrounds. Another 100 were given out at Solid Rock Apostolic Church. Ryan Berry | DarkeCountyMedia.com
Solid Rock doubles giveaway over last year

By Ryan Berry

DarkeCountyMedia.com

Contact Editor Ryan Berry at [email protected] or (937) 569-0066. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.

No posts to display