BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – The Beckley Dream Center held its monthly food distribution and served hundreds of families around the Raleigh County area.
The Beckley Dream Center holds a food distribution on the third Saturday of each month for families around Beckley. According to Luke Hodges, a pastor with the Family Worship Center, since the pandemic began they’ve begun serving many more families around the Raleigh County area.
“This is something we’ve been doing for a lot of years, but we’ve recently added within the last three months a mobile distribution that involves Raleigh County outlying areas. And that can change month-to-month what area we go to,” Hodges said.
Hodges says each box they distribute is packed to the brim with non-perishable goods and other useful grocery items. This weekend alone they have served hundreds of families.
“We’ve served over 300 boxes, and that would represent, you multiply that by how many members are in the family, so up over 1000 people have been served in that sense today.”
Since they’ve expanded their reach in the past few months, more families are coming out to participate in the food distributions. Hodges says the stress of the pandemic is forcing a lot of people into uncomfortable financial situations, but they are happy to provide for the community.
“With the pandemic there’s just a lot of mental stress that people are going through. Some people are in a shortage moment in their life financially and it’s hard to make ends meet. But together we can make a difference as we serve one another.”
The distributions are free of charge and are done in a safe drive-thru fashion. No registration or proof of income is required. Those looking to donate goods for the next distribution can do so by dropping off contributions at the Family Worship Center Tuesday through Friday.
Next month the Dream Center will be holding their food distribution on the second Saturday of the month instead of the third to help families with the back to school process.