DAYTON, OhioWDTN) — A local Thanksgiving food drive filled and collected more than 500 boxes of food Saturday, to feed those in need during the holiday.

Crossroads Church has been hosting Thanksgiving food drives for 27 years, and in its 28th year, it is expected to feed more than 5,000 people in Dayton alone with the food boxes it has filled.

As cars stopped to collect the food boxes, they were greeted by the Crossroads Church hype team.

The boxes, filled and packaged by the church, contain all the essentials for a complete Thanksgiving meal. The boxes are then collected by partner organizations who distribute them to people in need in Dayton, just in time for the holidays.

“For those who may not be able to support themselves, we want to say it’s OK,” said Matt Castleman, community pastor at Crossroads Church Dayton. “We have a surplus of goods, we have a surplus of blessings and we want to be able to share that wealth with the members of our community. »

What started as a small initiative to provide Thanksgiving meals to Cincinnati families has now fed more than a million people in different parts of Ohio and Kentucky over the past 27 years.

But this year is especially special for organizers, because of the church’s new location in Dayton.

“This is our first event that we are hosting in the new building. And for me, that’s been very exciting because it kind of sets the tone of what our first thing is in the new building, reaching out and sets the tone of what we want to be in the community,” said said volunteer John Tucker.

And this spirit of community outreach resonates even with the young people, who led the hype team.

“The reason I wanted to get involved at the high school this year is because I just want to encourage more people to get more boxes so we can do more good in the community,” said volunteer Adeline Derenzo. “Feed more families, and just encourage everyone who filled these boxes and is giving back.” »

Crossroads Church aims to expand its Thanksgiving food drive to feed everyone in need in the city over the next decade.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For breaking news, weather, sports and streaming videos, visit WDTN.com.