Wilmington Church feeds thousands on Christmas Eve

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A church in Wilmington worked all day long on Christmas Eve to bring meals to others in the community.

Pine Valley United Methodist Church gathered more than 100 volunteers to provide thousands of people with traditional holiday meals.

One of the volunteers, Izzy Magill, says this is one of her favorite times of the year.

“This is one of the things I look forward to during the holidays. I get to spend time with my friends, my church family and I get to help people and make peoples’ holidays warm and happy. I think it’s easy to get caught up in what you’re doing with gifts and the shopping, the hustle and bustle, but it’s nice to just take time out of your day, out of your Christmas Eve and just remember who really needs it.”

Some volunteers cooked and served food, while others dropped off meals to those who couldn’t make it to the church.

Wilmington Fire Department Assistant Chief Sammy Flowers was one of those who received a meal from the church, and says he’s grateful for the community support.

“It’s good to get a pat on the back every so often from the community, and it shows the community cares about us as much as we care about them.”

After serving meals throughout the afternoon, Pine Valley held a dinner welcoming anyone and everyone to spend Christmas Eve with them.