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Church, ministries join forces to help feed tens of thousands in aftermath of Hurricane Milton

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Published  October 16, 2024 4:24pm EDT
Lakeland
FOX 13 News

LAKELAND, Fla. - Churches and ministries are joining forces to feed tens of thousands of people in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

The parking lot of Lakes Church off of East Memorial Boulevard is now a hub for disaster relief for the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida.

"We actually have shower houses and laundry houses if people need to take a shower," said Aaron Burgner, Lakes Church's Senior Pastor. "That whole trailer is set up as a commercial kitchen for cooking mass quantity of food."

Since the weekend, hundreds of volunteers, both local and out-of-state from Kentucky, have been cooking hot meals and offering them through a drive-thru. The Salvation Army has also been delivering meals to hard hit places.

READ: Where small business owners can turn for aid after hurricanes

The church has been able to feed 10,000 people a day and by the end of this week they hope to feed up to 100,000 people.

"You can tell many of them seem like they don't have a home. They have belongings in their car. They seem very appreciative," said Debbie Prickett, a volunteer. "However many meals they want, we'll try to accommodate them."

Disaster relief teams are also going throughout the community to help people with tree damage or roof damage.

"We just want people to know we're here, and we love them," said Burgner. "It has been amazing to see all types of people come and help us and just love on our community."

"We're exhausted at night, and we think how in the world can we get back up again in the morning and start over, but the Lord just reenergizes us, and we're ready to go," said Prickett. "There's just a lot of joy. A lot of joy at the end of it."

The drive-thru meals are from 4 to 6 p.m. every day. By the end of this week, Burgner said they'll assess if they need to continue on for another week.

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