WOODBRIDGE, VA—Holiness Tabernacle Church Of God In Christ hosted the Capital Area Food Bank’s (CAFB) new CEO, Nancy Roman, in February to discuss the challenges Prince William County partners face while fighting hunger.
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Pastor Eddie B Pruitte, Jr., founder of Holiness Tabernacle, his wife, First Lady Vivian Pruitte and members of the church’s Missions Department opened their doors to CAFB and other agencies from across the Prince William County for a meet and greet with Ms. Roman.
The working lunch was part of Ms. Roman’s 100-day strategy to talk to partners and donors in the DC Metro area and “get a real sense of [CAFB’s] potential and to make some decisions about prioritization.” With this being her fifth working lunch, Ms. Roman hoped to learn what was really working for the agencies, their challenges and what they found most helpful.
“There should be no square mile that doesn’t have resources, people, churches, or agencies who are addressing the hunger need comprehensively,” she said.
Ms. Roman went on to express her sincere appreciation for the tremendous work Holiness Tabernacle is doing in Prince William County. Since its inception, Holiness Tabernacle’s food pantry has distributed more than 200,000 pounds of non-perishable food, meats and fresh produce to those in need.
“Thank you for both hosting us and for the work you do. Fifteen thousand people are fed yearly through this church with only a congregation of a hundred people.”
Despite the accolades, Pastor Pruitte noted that the church has experienced its share of challenges working with the local government.
“This past Thanksgiving we distributed more than 700 turkeys in less than two hours,” said Pastor Pruitte. “We bought them all on our dime. We had to hire Sheriffs to direct traffic. Had this been a sporting event, traffic officers would’ve been donated, but we had to pay them.”
Pastor Pruitte further explained how government agencies send people to the church who are in need, but seemed reluctant to provide additional resources or get involved to feed the overwhelming hunger population.
“We’re not a large congregation but because of our location, we feed a lot of people,” he spoke candidly. “There are things that the government can do at little or no cost.”
Many agencies agreed with Pastor Pruitte’s concerns and it was suggested that by coming together as a coalition, the agencies could not only gain greater purchasing power, but push for additional assistance and resources from the county and state.
In the end, the meeting served its purpose and was a great opportunity to share success stories and challenges facing food pantries across the county. It also further affirmed Holiness Tabernacle’s charge to meet the growing hunger needs the best way they can.