Every year, cars wrap around the “little church doing big things for God” for its annual Thanksgiving food giveaway.
True Love Sanctuary Christ Holy Sanctified Church, located off Yuma Avenue in the Hillside neighborhood, fills neighborhood residents and other recipients’ trunks with turkeys, sweet potatoes, onions, cabbage and green beans. The annual tradition is expected to continue on Nov. 22 until there’s no food left.
Saturday’s holiday meal distribution comes after the longest government shutdown in U.S. history that saw a now-ended pause on food stamp benefits and an increased demand on local food banks.
For the first time in two decades, Bishop Michael E. Williams, the church’s founder, said the congregation is in need of additional donations to address the larger-than-normal need. He told the Fort Worth Report he expects the church to feed over 4,500 families this year.
Donations are critical to address the “great need,” said Williams, who founded the church in 2001.
“Just imagine how many more people are going to be coming because of the need. And so we anticipate a great crowd, but we anticipate that God is going to bless us to do exactly what we need to do,” Williams said.
The church partners with Tarrant Area Food Bank, along with other nonprofits and churches, to serve thousands of families in need. Williams said he’s trying to find additional resources for food and funding to purchase groceries for the upcoming giveaway.
Volunteers load up groceries on Nov. 23, 2024, during True Love Sanctuary Christ Holy Sanctified Church’s Thanksgiving giveaway. The event is done in partnership with local churches and nonprofits like Tarrant Area Food Bank. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
The church’s Thanksgiving giveaway started 20 years ago. Congregants bought what they could to create 100 free baskets filled with the basics, including a small turkey and sides such as green beans and corn.
A holiday meal for 10 is estimated to cost about $80 in 2025, according to a recent Wells Fargo analysis of the Thanksgiving feast. The same study said the feast costs about 2% to 3% less compared to last year.
A different analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation found the 10-person dinner was estimated to cost $58.08 in 2024, which is less than the previous two Thanksgivings but still more than pre-pandemic prices.
“We can’t control the government. We can’t control what’s transpiring up there, but one thing that we can do, we can yet be faithful to what God has called us to do,” Williams said, speaking of the shutdown and pause in food stamp benefits.
Want to contribute to True Love Sanctuary Christ Holy Sanctified Church Thanksgiving giveaway? Contact Bishop Michael E. Williams at 817-495-2958.
Bishop Michael E. Williams started True Love Sanctuary Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Fort Worth in September 2001. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
Last May, the church sustained heavy fire and water damage after a downed powerline landed on the metal roof and ignited an attic fire. Several members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, faith-based nonprofits and city officials banded together to help restore True Love Sanctuary.
Spencer Smith bonded with Williams as Smith volunteered in the rebuilding and during last year’s Thanksgiving giveaway.
Smith, along with 40 other members from the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he is an interfaith outreach specialist, plans to volunteer in giving food away at Williams’ church again this year.
“It’s a no-brainer that we would help out again with the Thanksgiving giveaway because we have this friendship established,” Smith said.
Even though the church is in a “dire mode” to have enough food to feed the incoming families, Williams said he continues to have faith that the church will help people in need.
“We are, once again, going by faith, believing that everything’s going to happen that we need to happen,” Williams said. “We’re working as hard as ever to make things happen.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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