GREAT FALLS — Alexander Temple Church of God in Christ in Great Falls is preparing once again to hand out baskets of Thanksgiving food to people in need.
Pastor Marcus Collins was pleasantly surprised Wednesday afternoon when he saw some of the food baskets for the church's annual distribution had already been assembled in the church's basement.
"This is our ninth year doing this, so it's been a phenomenal way to interact with joy with the community,” Collins said. "In that basket is a turkey, all the trimmings they may need, cakes, pies, things like that."
He said the event could serve more than 120 families.
"There's a great partnership with other entities, like Opportunities Inc. They'll get calls and then they'll direct people to the church, so we have open communication with them and the food banks,” Collins explained.
If there happen to be any leftovers at the end of the event, don't worry - they won't go to waste. The baskets will be taken to housing communities and distributed.
"I think it's very important for us to show love and empathy for our fellow Great Falls citizens,” said Collins. "One, because we're in this together. Whether you're Christian or non-Christian, whether you're a prophet or non-prophet, whether you're an entrepreneur or you're a clergyman all of us are people we want to see life better for the next person. We want to leave our community better than when we found it."
The food distribution is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to noon, and is open to anyone in need.
The church is at 3726 5th Avenue North. For more information, call 406-452-8820
Here is video from the 2018 distribution:
