Thanksgiving came early for families in need benefiting from Mount Olive Baptist Church’s holiday food giveaway, a Nov. 18 event that brought hundreds, on foot and in vehicles, to the Arlington View community.
Frozen turkeys and fresh-from-the-farm sweet potatoes and collard greens were part of the distribution, augmented by other fruits, vegetables and non-perishable items.
“We want to make sure individuals during the holiday season have adequate food,” said Rev. Dr. James Victor Jr., pastor of the church. “The need is overwhelming – we’ve seen need increasing since the pandemic.”
Kimberly Taylor, who serves as minister of hope and service at Mount Olive, said the turkeys came from the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall commissary, with food staples provided by the Capital Area Food Bank and a local farmer. The church contacted local schools and religious organizations to let people know of the event – with word-of-mouth also helping to draw a crowd.
And indeed it WAS a crowd. The streets of the Arlington View neighborhood were lined with vehicles waiting their turn, aided by church volunteers and, later, Arlington police helping to keep the snaking procession moving.
Some began lining up as early as 7 a.m., and the 300 total food bags (a 50-percent increase from the typical monthly distribution) were disseminated before everyone could be accommodated.
Doing much of the heavy lifting were members of Boy Scout Troop 505, sponsored by the church, who shuttled food to various distribution areas on the grounds – one for those in vehicles, the other for those on foot.
Mount Olive’s food-distribution events have been running over the past three years, roughly coinciding with the onset of the pandemic.
Now in its 150th year, having been founded in 1873 in Freedmans Village and focused on the spiritual needs of those emancipated during the Civil War, the church soon will see a county-government historical marker placed on its grounds, denoting its historical provenance. Rev. Dr. Victor has served as pastor for the past 21 years.
