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...Nearly 550 boxes — each filled to the top with canned and boxed food, fresh bread, fruit and vegetables and frozen chicken — left the back stoop of Rome’s First Presbyterian Church on Monday.
Church members said the project, which requires three days of service on their part, is an effort to reach out to the needy in the community.
Click here and here for video reports from the food drive.
Click here for a SnapHappy photo gallery from the event.
“I always have a blast during this,” said church member and Shorter College student Lacie Self, as she helped load boxes in families’ cars on Monday. “It’s such an awesome way to honor our Lord and to help people in the community. It’s always great to see eve
Kelsey Ann Williams, 14, gathers food Sunday. By Carolyn Grindrod / RN-T |
ryone just come together as one.”
Self was one of several church volunteers preparing the boxes of food that are expected to feed a family of four for about a week.
“This is something immediate, something special to be involved with,” said Self. “It’s a real heart-warming experience, the event as a whole. You get to see the progress of how the food gets here, then how the volunteers gather together to build boxes and then the families who need it the most.”
Monday’s work was the culmination of the annual food giveaway. Volunteers worked Saturday morning and Sunday evening to help with the boxes.
“It’s a three-day event,” said Jamie Doss, co-chair for the Christmas Box committee on Saturday morning. “We’ll have people out here all weekend.”
The event is a 20-year-old tradition started by about a dozen men in the church, said Doss.
“The men use to buy a few bags of groceries apiece, and it was usually enough to give 30 families enough food for a Christmas dinner,” he added.
Other local churches have spearheaded similar drives this year, including First United Methodist Church of Rome and West Rome Baptist Church.
“It’s a church family tradition,” said Doss.
“A lot of our volunteers are the sons and daughters of the people who originally started this. It’s amazing to see how far this has come. We just want to be good neighbors, honor God and serve our community,” said Doss.
As the Piggly Wiggly tractor-trailer rolled into the church parking lot Saturday, nearly 50 volunteers helped unload it through an assembly line-like process during which they organized the different food items to be processed for boxing.
“It’s not about what we’re going to get from this,” said Dan Pate, co-chair for the committee on Saturday, “but what we’re going to give. Food is just part of this experience, but we want it to bring hope and holiday cheer and show Christ for the families who are in need.”
At about 6 p.m. Sunday the church turned into a factory for box production with more than 300 volunteers helping assemble the boxes and praying for the families and their food items.
“I really enjoy packaging the boxes because it’s a great bonding time for the church,” said church member Mary Lou Romero as she made her way through the bustling crowds to gather items for her box. “It’s really a blessing to be able to do this, getting to work and see others working, especially the children, who get to see and understand the true meaning of Christmas.”
Each box given was filled with one or two of each food item available, a Bible and a copy of the Ten Commandments.
After building 10 boxes, church members Mitch and Neysa Jordan left with the knowledge they had helped others.
“We came out as a family,” said Neysa Jordan. “And it’s so amazing to see how people come out and help during the holidays when they have so much else they could be doing. It’s truly a touching experience.”
