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Annual 'Feed the City' event in Norfolk sees record turnout on Thanksgiving Day

Members of Calvary Revival Church pre-packaged more than 1,000 hot meals. They also put together hundreds of boxes to give people enough food for a week.

NORFOLK, Va. — It wasn’t the usual indoor Thanksgiving feast at Calvary Revival Church.

For the church’s annual Feed the City event Thursday, people helped guide traffic, they pre-packaged boxes filled with hot meals, and cars drove through for some extra help with food.  

Courtney McBath, the church’s senior pastor said members of his church pre-packaged more than 1,000 hot Thanksgiving meals. They also put together hundreds of boxes to give people a week’s worth of groceries. 

McBath said it comes during a time when many people in his church community and beyond are facing financial uncertainty due to the pandemic. 

“The need is very real and it’s 300 percent higher than it has been in the past, and that’s with us having fed 3,000 people six days ago. That perspective really changes the game,” said McBath. 

In previous years, the church has fed between 400 to 600 people. McBath said there have been years when only 200 people have shown up for a hot meal. 

That’s certainly not the case this Thanksgiving. Hours before the end of the event, the church’s pop-up location in its parking lot ran out of hot meals. Volunteers distributed grocery boxes from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia.  

Volunteers loaded up William Wood’s car. His family of four was in the car with him, grateful for the food. 

“I feel tremendously blessed,” said Wood. “We’re keeping our heads above water, but extra help always is a good thing.” 

Things may look a lot different this year, but the church’s mission to help the community on Thanksgiving Day didn’t falter.  

The church had a total of four pop-up, drive-thru style locations throughout the city. Two of them were in the St. Paul’s area. It’s an area that consists of subsidized, low-income housing.

Church leaders said the area is facing a lot of food insecurity. This year, the only grocery store within walking distance of the area closed down, creating a food desert for the people living there.   

One of the volunteers, Sabrina Brown knows the area well.

“I grew up in Tidewater Gardens, so it’s an opportunity for us to give back. The Bible says ‘the poor will be with us always,’ so it’s not just on Thanksgiving. This is an opportunity to give always,” said Brown. 

For James Arends, a  who just moved to Norfolk from New Mexico, the event was about much more than getting a meal. 

“It feels a whole lot like I found family. I don’t have any family here,” said Arends. 

Family is something he said is the biggest gift this Thanksgiving. 

"Our hearts are sad that this many people need help, but we’re grateful that we get a chance to help them,” said McBath. 

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