GIBSON — Saint Johns United Methodist Church joined forces with the town of Gibson on Thursday to hand out food to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Saint Johns’ food pantry, in conjunction with the town of Gibson’s disaster relief food pantry, are hoping to help those in the community during these trying times,” said Ken Hainey, one of the volunteers handing out food.
The food giveaway was already a success before 10 a.m.
“We’ve already seen more than 100 cars come through this morning, but we have plenty of food to give out and we will be here until it is all gone,” said Hainey.
“We have pre-made boxes of canned goods and other non-perishables,” added Hainey. “And with all the restaurants being closed, we are able to also hand out fresh cabbage, lettuce, apples and melons to those that drive through. We also have water for them, as well.”
The food for Thursday’s food giveaway was furnished by the food bank in Aberdeen.
“I’d like to say thank-you to the Aberdeen food bank, as well as Mayor Stubbs and Angie Hunsucker for letting us team up with them and the Gibson Town Hall,” said Hainey. “It’s the ideal location to hand out food.”
Due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the food giveaway was operated a little differently than usual.
“We are trying to keep our distance from each other the best we can,” said Hainey. “We are also wearing our mask to help keep those coming to pick up food safe, as well as ourselves.
“There are several disaster relief food pantries around the county, we are not the only one,” continued Hainey. “And I’m sure they are taking the precautions as well.”
The Saint Johns United Methodist Church has been helping members of the community for a long time.
“We’ve been doing the food ministry for 15 years,” said Hainey. “Most of the money we use to buy food comes from a federal grant.
“We’ve also gone to other places such as Wilmington to deliver food,” continued Hainey.
The food pantry will hold another food giveaway, however, it will be at least two weeks before it does.
“We want to be able to help as many people as possible,” said Hainey. “We’ve even had cars driving through from South Carolina. But that’s OK. Hunger does not have boundaries.”
JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected].
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