Church marks 11 years feeding multitudes

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read
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Nov. 17—HIGH POINT — The coronavirus pandemic couldn't keep the parishioners of Williams Memorial CME Church in east High Point from serving free Thanksgiving meals to 10,000 people, so inflation didn't have a chance of stopping the congregation either.

Hundreds of volunteers will begin distributing free meals from the church campus at 3400 Triangle Lake Road starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The boxed meal features a turkey, green beans, corn, a starch such as macaroni and cheese, potatoes or rice, stuffing, yams and cranberry sauce. The donated meal is expected to feed at least a family of five.

The boxes will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis and will be distributed in a drive-thru in the church parking lots.

Williams Memorial has staged the holiday meal giveaway for the past 11 years. What started with 5,000 free meals has grown to 10,000 boxes provided to the community. Organizers estimate the church has donated 100,000 meals since the inception of the food giveaway.

"We want these items to help those who are hungry or may not have the resources to get what they need," said the Rev. Robert Williams, senior pastor.

The parishioners started stockpiling food for the meal giveaway this past May, with the congregation bringing different food items to church services each month — green beans one month, corn products the next.

The church carried on despite higher food prices amid inflation. The congregation received a financial boost this year when the Welfare Reform Liaison Project, a community action agency that aims to help low-income families, donated $20,000.

"We've worked hard to collect these items so that others don't have to," Williams said.

During the pandemic, Williams CME Church maintained the meal giveaway in 2020 and 2021 through social distancing protocols.

"We continued with our mission to continue feeding as many people as possible because we had faith in God and his provisions, rather than the situations that were presented to us and the world during that time," Williams told The High Point Enterprise. "It was our belief that we should continue providing as he had continued providing for us."

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul