With Thanksgiving in the rearview and December swinging into the spotlight, it’s important to keep the spirit of the holiday season in mind. On the daily, U-Haul rolls out plenty of reasons to be grateful–and one ministry in North Carolina was certainly happy to celebrate the giving season with help from Team U-Haul.
On November 21, a North Carolina U-Haul center donated two moving trucks to assist the World Overcomers Christian Church (WOCC) in distributing turkeys and side dishes to more than 1,500 needy families in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill during their annual Thanksgiving food drive. Throughout the chilly morning, volunteers also handed out hot cocoa to people lined up while waiting for a meal.
There was thankfulness all around, said Danielle Allgood, administrative assistant at the CARE Ministry, which runs the outreach missions with WOCC.
“They were very appreciative,” she says. “Even just the little things like giving them hot chocolate in line made them very happy. I got a response later from people who said that if they didn’t get that meal, they wouldn’t have had anything to eat for Thanksgiving.”
The church received donations from businesses and individuals in the area before loading all the items into the U-Haul trucks and bringing them to the three different cities. Turkeys, canned side meals and desserts were practically spilling out of the vehicles, ready to bring a wave of smiles to underprivileged individuals.
Allgood says the volunteers were especially grateful for the U-Haul trucks, which allowed them to save money and give more to those they were serving.
“That helped out tremendously,” she says. “It cut the costs for us, because instead of having to put it toward U-Haul, we were able to purchase more turkeys and put more money toward actually helping people in the community. And it just showed that the things we do aren’t in vain.”
Team U-Haul is proud to help out customers for almost any rhyme, reason or season–and the giving season is the perfect time for hauling joy to those in need.