LUMBERTON, N.C. (WBTW) – Earlier this month we told you about a group of Christian volunteers in Lumberton who serve warm meals each day to hundreds of people displaced by Hurricane Matthew.
News13’s has a follow up with the group about their plans for Thanksgiving.
This Thanksgiving will be very different for families in Lumberton that lost everything after the flooding from Hurricane Matthew but more than 15 churches have come together to plan a Thanksgiving feast for those families.
People who lost their homes and cars after Hurricane Matthew are now living in five different motels without access to a stove or refrigerator.
With the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday local churches have come together in hopes of making this holiday special despite their circumstances.
About 20 local churches are planning a large feast in the parking lot of Motel 6.
12 turkeys, five hams and many sides were donated by people from the community.
Church vans will pick up people from the other motels and tables and chairs will be put out.
Randy Lewis, the organizer of the dinner, says he hopes this will get them out of their rooms and make them forget their hardships.
Lewis says God made this all possible the feast will bring more than one thousand people of all different races together for Thanksgiving.
Now that American Red Cross shelters are closed hundreds of families are living in five different motels.
Each day Randy Lewis sets up in the parking lot of Motel 6 to serve people whose home and car was flooded by Hurricane Matthew.
Many churches have come together to plan a Thanksgiving feast but Lewis says it has been a struggle to feed these families each day.
Since many families will be in the motels until January, he wants to develop a long term plan with churches, County officials and community members to make sure families have warm meals each day.
Lewis explained, “Everybody thinks Hurricane Matthew is over. It’s far from over. These people have lost everything. They can’t help themselves. If we don’t help them as a community… Who are we?”
Lewis says he needs churches or organizations to come together to help serve the families. He also needs meats and sides to serve.