Church hosts free drive-thru meal pickup

SOUTH BEND, IND. – It was a Saturday morning at Christ Temple Apostolic Church with a simple announcement: free chicken and prayer.

The locals on South Bend’s northwest side didn’t hesitate.

There were so many cars, in fact, that police had to help with traffic flow.

“It kind of threw a lot of people off when they are driving up, and they say ‘well how much is the chicken?’ and we say there is no cost to the chicken,” Senior Pastor Jim McKinnies said.
“We just want to give this to (them). Then we’re asking them (if) there are any needs that they have anything that they would like us to pray for. And what we found is that there are a lot of people that need prayer right now because of this time of uncertainty. There’s a lot of fear.”

But in giving back to this community - the church has to make sure it follows all health guidelines.

“I mean we give away groceries every week, but this was a hot meal that we are able to actually give in a safe, sanitary way that were able to do it as a drive up,” McKinnies said.
“So we’re being considerate of safety measures, but also being able to feed families.”

It ended up taking less than 45 minutes to get all 400 boxes of Nelson’s chicken sandwiches passed out, almost all going to strangers.

Even some kids at the church who are missing out on a normal school year said making the most of the pandemic by helping others is worth it.

“I had a choice not to come but I thought it was a good thing for the community to do it,” 14-year old Noah Fernandez said.
“I’m blessed with my family but I know some families don’t have things like me so it really hit me.”

The church isn’t done with its Easter giving season just yet, though. It’s asking for food and monetary donations to make more giveaways like Saturday’s possible, McKinnies said.