RALEIGH, N.C. — A church is ramping up its food donations five times their original amount after seeing the pandemic's increased need. 

What You Need To Know

  • A Place Called Hope Church is ramping up donations.

  • It hosts a food drive every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  • Volunteers say they are seeing a new demographic of hungry people.

The Executive Pastor at A Place Called Hope Church, Pam Hutcheson, says the usual twice a month food drive is now happening every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“We’re seeing a different demographic,” Hutcheson says. “We’re seeing people who have lost their jobs. We had a woman here whose husband was a sheriff. We have people who are not on disability, and things are happening that people didn’t expect to happen, and they just have a need.”

The church gets its food from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. 

Once bringing items from the food bank, volunteers have the assembly line down to a science. They pack food trays with non-perishable items and place them in your trunk for contactless deliveries.

“We want to put them in a situation where they realize that them coming here will allow them just to breathe a little bit more,” Hutcheson adds.