Annual MLK parade in Newport News to be replaced with new event this year to accommodate COVID-19 guidelines

The coronavirus has canceled the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade and march in Newport News, but a new event will take its place this year.

This year, members of the community will be able to come to pick up a free meal Sunday afternoon for the first-ever Feeding 5000 event honoring King.

“We’re continuing the legacy of Dr. King — of service, of grassroots rolling up our sleeves and serving the community. We do it with a smile,” said Andrew Shannon, Feeding 5000 founder. “We serve white-collar, blue-collar or no collar at all. It’s a no-judgment zone because this pandemic has adversely affected our community, our region, our state and our nation.”

Shannon, president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, usually organizes the parade but decided that providing a meal would be a safer way to honor King this year. He’s been hosting large-scale Feeding 5000 events on other occasions for more than 20 years but said he’s seen an increased number of people in need because of the pandemic.

“A lot of people say they like to honor Dr. King, but we have to remind them that as they honor Dr. King, we want them to know Dr. King was a minister — he was a preacher. A lot of the things Dr. King advocated for were things in the Bible — things such as feeding, service and non-violence,” Shannon said.

Shannon said the event is an opportunity to bring civil rights organizations — NAACP and SCLC — together with other community leaders and businesses with a common goal — to serve.

“I strongly believe that in order to be a great leader, you also have to be a great servant and that means that you’ve got to be willing to go to the front lines and serve,” Shannon said.

Before the pandemic, Feeding 5000 events used to offer tables for people to sit and talk, but with COVID-19 precautions, people will be asked to leave after picking up a pre-packaged meal.

Shannon says those who are able to are asked to walk across the parking lot to receive their meal from a volunteer, but volunteers will be available to take meals to cars for those who need assistance.

Volunteers will wear masks and gloves and maintain safe physical distance, Shannon said.

Shannon said one of King’s quotes was, in part, responsible for inspiring the event.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” King said in 1957 to a crowd in Montgomery, Alabama.

“Feeding 5000 provides light and illumination despite whatever darkness individuals and family might be facing right now,” Shannon said.

The event will be from 1:30-3 p.m. — while supplies last — at New Beech Grove Baptist Church located at 361 Beechmont Drive in Newport News.

Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com