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Drive-thru food drive raises $250k for Second Harvest

More than four hundred cars drove through to drop off donations outside of the church to help make sure no one in the community goes hungry.

With nearly 50,000 people in Spokane filing for unemployment because of the pandemic, food insecurity is at an all time high. It's why local groups are holding food drives in a safe way to make sure no one in our community goes hungry.

Life Center church in Spokane held a drive-thru fundraiser for Second Harvest Saturday afternoon. The group collected nearly 10,000 pounds of food and raised about $127,000, which will be matched by the church, meaning Second Harvest will receive a check for about $260,000.

"In this time, it's really easy to hold tightly to our money because of the financial instability in our economy and we thought how cool would it be to instead of holding tightly to our money, we gave to away generously to show the generosity of Jesus," said Michael Wittwer, Co-Lead Pastor.

While Life Center church can't meet in person, Wittwer said they can do their part to show those who've been affected by the pandemic that their Spokane neighbors care.

"If you've been out of work for almost two months now, how are you going to pay your bills? When you have to make the choice between paying bills and buying food and some people are at the point where they can't choose either," Wittwer said.

Second Harvest said the need for food has risen because of the pandemic, before it even started they were already feeding 50,000 people a week. A spokesperson said, that has since increased by at least 40%.

RELATED: Nonprofit works to feed Spokane residents battling food insecurity

It's why this week, the Mickey and Pat Moore said they felt like it was placed on their hearts to give back.

"What about those people that normally don't have to rely on the food bank? Somehow make their living but barely make it, that absolutely have a need that they didn't have before," Mickey Moore said.

So the couple decided to gather food all week by placing notes on their neighbors doors.

"I feel like the Lord has said something to me, and said we're supposed to put these notes on everyone's doors and see what we can do for Second Harvest," said Pat Moore.

Second Harvest is asking the governor to keep the National Guard at their warehouses to help sort and distribute food in the Inland Northwest.

RELATED: WA National Guard helps Second Harvest give away $1 million in food a week

"They support so many food banks in Spokane, they have feeding programs, the work they do and the efficiency in which they do it we just believe in them," Wittwer said.

There's something special about sharing a meal with others, it unities us, because it's something we all need. While we can't gather around a table, we can make sure our neighbors have food on theirs.

"We want people to know Jesus loves you, by providing food for our community," Wittwer said.

If you would like to donate, it's not to late you can make a donation that will be matched by the church on Life Center's website

Note: the below video shows how the National guard is helping with food donations in the Spokane area.

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