LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Dozens of people showed up at New Zion Baptist Church in Louisville's Park Duvalle neighborhood on Thursday, but they were not there to worship.
In fact, most people at the church never even exited their vehicles.
"I picked up a bag of food for me and my family of four," said Kali Coates, who, like a lot of people, is facing hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's really hard for my kids," she added. "They don't get out; they don't understand why they're doing schoolwork at home, and now I have to be a teacher."
Coates has a job but hasn't worked since February. She is also still waiting for her stimulus check from the federal government.
"Money is getting a little hard to come by," she said, "especially for the necessities and stuff."
Coates' story — like many others throughout the community — is why New Zion Baptist Church created a way to help people who are struggling as a result of the pandemic.
"We just knew we had the supplies," said the Rev. A. Russell Awkard, a senior pastor at the church, which received a donation of 80 frozen chickens earlier in the week.
"We felt it was our obligation to do something positive with the supplies," Awkard added. "We added to the chickens and made a package for each family."
After the drive-thru food giveaway was announced, Awkard said the packages were accounted for in a short amount of time.
"Wednesday morning from about 10 to 12, I think, they were calling in," Awkard said, "and by the time that period was over, we had filled up the list."
Church volunteers then scheduled appointments and created a system to hand out the food to people as they drove through the church's parking lot.
Coates said the bag of food saved her family money and a trip to the grocery store.
"It's difficult times ... especially when you're a single parent," she added. "... It's hard to find food in the stores. Sometimes you just don't want to go into the store."
Leaders at New Zion Baptist Church expect to have another drive-thru food giveaway in the near future.
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