Church holds monthly food drive to make sure no one goes hungry during COVID-19 pandemic

DETROIT. - If Detroiters haven’t been impacted directly by the coronavirus, chances are, it’s limited their access to basic goods and services. 

“A lot of families are suffering,” said Director of Detroit Department of Public Works, Dayo Akinyemi. “People can’t go to work. They’re still waiting on their checks. Not a lot of opportunities for people to feed themselves.” 

With that in mind, the city’s Department of Public Works put out a call to action. 

“We just thought it was a great thing to do,” Akinyemi said. “We call on out people who would be willing to do this and we had a lot of people volunteered.”

With the help of The Greater Emmanuel Church of God in Christ, they were able to help 500 families by providing them with a box of food. 

“We’re here because we care about the people,” said Gloria Conyers with GEI Food Distribution Ministry. “We want to provide them with food for their soul and give them a word of encouragement.”

Even before the coronavirus showed up in Detroit, volunteers with the church provided this service the third Sunday of every month. They decided to continue the effort knowing the need was greater than ever. 

They also rely on donations to make this work, asking for people to give directly to the church. 

"That would allow us to buy more food from Gleaners and boxes and other items that we need," Conyers said. 

The volunteers know how important this work is and they know Detroiters are resilient. 

"This is Detroit,” Akinyemi. “We are stronger than this coronavirus and we are going to be okay.”