Hopewell church back at work on 'Free Food Friday' with City Council's nod

HOPEWELL – It was business as usual for the “Free Food Friday” giveaway in downtown Hopewell Friday afternoon, the first since City Council voted earlier this week to let the event stay where it is.

There was no gloating or any kind of “beat-the-system" vibe going on in the parking lot next to the Beacon Theatre. People lined up as usual with their bags and boxes hoping to take with them any of the canned goods, boxed foods and donated clothing that awaited.

“They're very appreciative. People have hugged me,” Michael Moore, senior pastor of Beacon Hill Church, the congregation that runs this and two others like it every Friday across town. Other than that, there was little, if anything, said about a city councilor’s request to have the event moved from downtown that prompted a social-media firestorm and last Tuesday’s emotional presentations before the entire council.

And that was just how Moore and the church wanted it to be.

“It’s not me,” he said. “The city came together and saw that this is a need, and we’re thankful to do it.”

There were a few changes to Free Food Friday that were different from previous events. For one, the Hopewell Sheriff’s Department was on hand to provide safety and security on a tab that was paid for by the church.

Also, the church announced on its Facebook page prior to Friday’s giveaway that there would be some tweaks to the process. Participants are now asked not to show up at the venue before 3 p.m. “because we don’t get here until 3 o’clock, so there’s no need,” Moore said.

Food and other goods will be available from 4-4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Because the downtown location usually draws more people than the other two locations at Thomas Rolfe Court and Arlington Park, the church suggested that participants might be served quicker at those locations.

Another request from the church: Be nice to city leaders because “they have a thankless job.” Following Tuesday night’s vote, some folks took to social media to suggest egging the residence of Ward 1 Councilor Rita Joyner, who brought up the issue of possibly moving the event to a site less busy traffic wise than the lot on state Route 10/West Randolph Road.

“A lot of people have bashed City Council on this, and that’s not necessary,” Moore said. “It’s not necessary to tear them down; it’s a thankless job. So, let’s thank them even when it’s sometimes when we don’t agree. Let’s be respectful.”

City Manager Concetta Manker walked across Route 10 Friday afternoon from the Municipal Building to the giveaway. She said she was pleased with how smoothly the event was running and appreciated the “good work” church staff and volunteers were doing.

Beacon Hill Church “heard the concerns of City Council and this Friday addressed those concerns” of safety and crowd control, Manker told The Progress-Index.

“I look forward to our continued partnership with Beacon Hill Church,” she said.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Church continues food giveaway in downtown Hopewell