Orlando church assembles Thanksgiving baskets, seeks volunteers and donations

LAKE MARY, Fla. - One Central Florida church is making sure that no one goes hungry this Thanksgiving.

"I'm a mother of six, and I work two jobs, and so it's a struggle for me to feed all these six kids," explained Nathalie Johnson, who received a Thanksgiving basket from the Judah Church Orlando.

Volunteers worked late into the night to make sure everything was set come Saturday morning, as they prepared the baskets with all the fixings including gift cards, stuffing mix, and lots of canned goods.

"We were able to give out 330 Thanksgiving baskets with turkeys to families in our community and we're so happy we were able to meet the needs," said Erin Bartolomei Cothern, Outreach Director at Judah Church.

Many people lost their job during the pandemic and were left wondering where their next meal might come from, so they turned to food banks.

Church staff and volunteers put together the "Feed the City" to meet the need.

"I didn't have a basket, I didn't have a turkey, I literally didn't have anything," Alainah Cadenas who also received a Thanksgiving basket, "but because of coming here today now I will be able to have that for Thanksgiving."

Last year, Judah Church handed out 75 baskets during Thanksgiving. That number more than quadrupled this year thanks to Judah's partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank, Charter Communications, and donations from local donors.

"We are coming up on Thanksgiving holiday and you know the most important thing we can do as believers and as Christians is love people, nothing else matters if we don't love people,"
said Judah Church Pastor Kendal Brown.

Judah Church plans to hand out baskets for Christmas and they need your help.  Every dollar you goes towards a basket to feed a family. For more information on how you can help, visit the Judah Church website at Judah.cc.

Watch FOX 35 News for the latest Central Florida stories.