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Since last October, King Street Church in Keysville has been distributing food boxes as part of the USDA Farmers to Families Food Program.

According to pastor David Malcom, the church distributes around 600 boxes each Saturday morning in Keysville and about 3,000 food boxes in the surrounding region.

King Street Church serves as a distribution hub for other area locations, including Farmville, Crewe, Blackstone, Drakes Branch, South Hill, Lacrosse, and Chase City.

“They are free and dispersed every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. until the boxes run out,” Malcom said.

The boxes are 35 pounds and include fruits, vegetables, milk, cheese, meat, and other dairy items. 

Through this program, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is partnering with national, regional, and local distributors, whose workforces have been significantly impacted by the closure of restaurants, hotels, and other food service businesses due to COVID-19, to purchase up to $6 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat products from American producers of all sizes. Distributors package these products into family-sized boxes, then transport them to food banks, community and faith-based organizations, and other non-profits serving Americans in need.

Malcom said that from the beginning, King Street Church committed to being a church that was part of the community and is dedicated to love and care for those in the community.

“It’s our joy to serve,” Malcom said. “We don’t just hand out food boxes to people; we offer to pray for them as well, and we’ve gotten a great connection to the community.”

Malcom said the reaction from those who have received the food boxes is that of gratitude and hope. “The bigger picture is people are hopeful in a difficult time and realized someone is there for them,” he said.