On Saturday, Guiding Light Food Services Director Allen Holt and Recovery client Gabe set out to drop off donations at New Life Church of God-Christ, located at 1072 Jefferson Avenue in Grand Rapids, for their bi-monthly food drive.
We were able to acquire 4,400 pounds of food to give for the event, including 60 whole chickens and 15 turkeys. Allen considers his job at Guiding Light to be “an exercise in doing God’s work” by giving families the means to “have a warm meal and not have to worry about going out and fending for it. It’s a blessing and a lot of people out there don’t have that.” Saturday’s event took place at the church in the form of a drive-through food pantry, where families could come by and pick up food baskets arranged by the church and filled with donated foodstuffs that Guiding Light delivered the day before. Allen and Gabe were able to pull our shipping truck right onto the curb and pass out chickens, turkeys, water, and juice to all who needed them.
As an organization Guiding Light is centered at the crossroads of private, non-profit, and community-based entities and is uniquely situated to collaborate and make sure that donated goods of all sorts are able to get into the hands of those that need it most. As Director, Allen is able to procure large quantities of donated foodstuffs from local companies and has a vast network of charitable and religious organizations in need to send them along to. It is important to note that none of this would be possible without all the support that Guiding Light receives from all of you. All our tireless and generous donors, advocates, and volunteers, those who invest their spirit into the mission of Guiding Light, you are the ones that make all this possible. From all of us at Guiding Light, we would like to express our deepest gratitude from the bottom of our hearts for making all of this possible. Thank you, and God bless.
