This year, Pilgrim Progressive Baptist Church was once again the location for the Annual Connecting Hope Food Drive. The person behind this successful annual event is the Rev. Ray Smith. This year, he says they purchased 800 turkeys, tons of potatoes, a can good, Jiffy corn mix, cranberry sauce, and even dinner rolls ready to be baked and served.
Over 25 volunteers spent several days putting the bags of groceries together to be given out with the turkeys at the drive-thru pickup last Saturday morning. Scores of additional volunteers were on hand to assist in loading each car as it came through. The whole event was a clockwork activity.
According to Rev. Smith, there were 38 local churches that signed up to participate in the food distribution, which was more than a turkey giveaway.
Rev. Townsend, Pastor of Pilgrim Progressive, was the host pastor for the second year. Connecting Hope is a program out of Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church. Each church submitted a list of how many baskets and Turkeys they needed. The churches, in turn, arranged the pickup and distribution among their respective recipients. Rev. Townsend indicated that the food need is growing as more people are showing up at the church looking for food. In several instances, he has had to send out for food to feed families right then and there. This was another successful distribution.
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