People Mission Baptist Church donates food to nearly 200 families

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - Members of People Mission Baptist Church came together to feed people in their community. Dozens of volunteers welcomed those in need with words of encouragement and donated goods.

People Mission hosted the food giveaway in Gulfport Wednesday as part of its Giving Program. The produce and canned goods were provided by Feeding the Gulf Coast.

Church minister Shellmon Moore said more than 200 families came out. While she was pleased with the turnout, she said it paints a vivid picture of food insecurity in the area.

“A lot of the times it may be the employment,” she says. “They lost their jobs or some of them may be homeless. We have people that come up that walk to get the food. They carry it away and we try to help them get it to where they need to.”

Moore attributes the success of the event to the dedicated volunteers.

“That’s the beautiful thing about it, a lot of them hear about it, they come and want to help,” Moore said.

Twelve-year-old Brayden Jackson, a resident in the community, lent a helping hand as a volunteer at the giveaway. He said he’s tired of seeing people in the area without shelter.

“I don’t like people being homeless on the streets, like not having food and dying of starvation,” he said.

Jackson hopes his efforts along with the others who devoted their time will bring a little joy to their lives.

“It makes me kind of sad about the people that live on the streets,” he said. “I wish they could be happy and have a family with them.”

People Mission extends its outreach beyond food donations and offers assistance services to each individual who attends.

“We have someone sitting at the table,” Moore said. “We get the names and the number in the household. We also get information from them so that we can help them beyond this.”

People Mission Baptist Church will host another food giveaway in a few weeks.

Want more WLOX news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Copyright 2023 WLOX. All rights reserved.