SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane organization provided Thanksgiving meals and cash assistance to 1,000 people Thursday, marking the largest distribution in the program’s seven-year history.
Michael C. Brown, founder of Fresh Soul and the Spokane Eastside Reunion Association, organized the annual Thanksgiving outreach that distributed more than $100,000 in cash along with warm meals to people in need.
“We’re giving out over $100,000 today to these people. These people are. These are human beings out here. See? And they are just a little down on their luck. You know, we just trying to help them the best we can,” Brown said.
The program has experienced remarkable growth since its inception. Brown said the organization started by feeding 100 people in its first year, expanded to 500 people last year, and reached 1,000 people this year.
Word of the assistance program spread throughout the community, creating unprecedented demand. The line of people seeking help started forming a day early and stretched several blocks long.
Brown attributes the program’s success to two key factors: faith and community support.
“This is all God’s work,” Brown said. “You gotta obey God. And then having great donors like I have over here to my right, stepping up, helping out.”
The operation required significant volunteer coordination to prepare meals and distribute assistance to the large crowd. Frank Browne, one of the volunteers, said his group of about 10 people provided manpower and cooked turkeys for the event.
“They needed manpower to accomplish all that. So, we decided our group, which is about ten, could provide some manpower. And so, we know we got these turkeys and we cooked them,” Frank Browne said.
Volunteers described the turnout as both impressive and humbling. Despite the substantial resources allocated for the event, organizers still had to turn people away after running out of food and money.
“I knew it was going to be big, but I did not realize how big it was,” Frank Browne said.
The fact that some people left empty-handed serves as motivation for Brown to continue expanding the program. He views the ongoing need in the community as a calling that extends beyond the holiday season.
“Jesus said himself, he said, I’m only going to be here with you a little bit. But these people, the homeless, the hungry, they’re going to be with you forever. And that’s what we got going on here,” Brown said.
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