FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Since 1997, Hope Church has provided Thanksgiving meals to families across the state.
"In 2015, we fed our 100,000th person. This year, we’ll be crossing that 120,000th person," says Poole.
Poole grew up in this church and he says every year around September, he starts discussing the holiday during Sunday services.
He says his members always step up to the plate.
"People love to rise to a challenge and when you present the challenge of feeding hungry people, people who want to be the hands and feet of Jesus say, ‘You know what? I want to step up and meet that challenge,’" says Poole.
As of Thursday, all of the food has been sorted and volunteers will spend Friday night packing it into bags, enough to feed 1,500 families.
"That bag can feed four to six people. You start doing those numbers, I’m not a mathematician, but that’s a lot of people," says Poole.
Each bag comes with two cans of vegetables, cornbread, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mac and cheese, a box of cake mix, and one turkey per family. Keisha Bibbs and her family have volunteered with the Feed the City for eight years.
"We just wanted to have a greater part in what was happening in this area, in this region, making sure that families are getting fed for Thanksgiving," says Bibbs.
She says what keeps them coming back is the feeling they get every year.
"The day of, distribution day, it’s absolutely amazing the families that we see, the hugs that we get, the pure elation from the people that are receiving this food at the gift we are giving them," she says.
Feed the City is a first come, first serve event at Hope Church this Saturday.
If you are interested in helping pack the food on Friday night, you can sign up here.
STAY ALERT | Download our FREE app now to receive breaking news and weather alerts. You can find the app on the Apple Store and Google Play.
STAY UPDATED | Click here to subscribe to our Midday Minute newsletter and receive the latest headlines and information in your inbox every day.
Have a news tip? Email news@13wmaz.com, or visit our Facebook page.