Delivering turkey, potatoes and a full helping of love

Published 5:00 pm Thursday, December 3, 2020

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In a year where needs have been great, members of St. John’s Lutheran Church and volunteers did not let any obstacles stand in the way of Feeding Farmville Thanksgiving Day.

For the fourth year in a row, Feeding Farmville volunteers prepared a full Thanksgiving meal for 800 people and delivered them to homes within a 30-mile radius of Farmville.

According to St. John’s Lutheran Church Pastor Matthew Sorenson, it takes more than 200 volunteers to help prepare, package, and deliver the meals.

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Sorenson said this year’s event had more volunteers than ever before, and more businesses reached out to help than in past events.

“We actually had to turn volunteers away,” Sorenson said.

Faced with COVID-19 restrictions and how to keep everyone safe, St. John’s Lutheran Church made the pick-up of meals for drivers even easier. Those volunteering to deliver meals were met with temperature checks and handed their route assignments, while members of the Boy Scouts loaded meals into cars.

One driver, Rebecca Bound, has been delivering meals since Feeding Farmville began.

“We’ve done this every year,” she said. “We appreciate the people, and the people appreciate us.”

“I love seeing the generosity of the people,” church member Catherine Varner said.

PHOTOS BY CRYSTAL VANDEGRIFT