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Photo by Joselyn King
\nVolunteer Dee King helps ready food items at the Bethlehem Apostolic Temple for distribution on Saturday in time for next week\u2019s Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n
WHEELING \u2014 Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in North Wheeling has been distributing food items and providing Thanksgiving dinners to families for 35 years \u2014 but never before have they done so in the aftermath of a government shutdown and patrons faced with losing their regular SNAP benefits.<\/p>\n
The church\u2019s annual Thanksgiving giveaway starts at 11 a.m. Saturday in the rear of the North Wheeling Dream Center, 334 Main St., Wheeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re grateful the government has re-opened \u2014 but we are not sure yet whether people have got their SNAP (benefits),\u201d Bishop Darrell Cummings said. \u201cWe want to help as many as we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have increased our order of hams and turkeys, fruits and vegetables. We want to provide as much help as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cummings said the cost of the giveaway most years has been in the $10,000 to $12,000 range. This year, he is expecting expenditures to go closer to $20,000.<\/p>\n
An additional $2,000 to $3,000 in turkeys has been ordered, and extra fruits vegetables being purchased might also add another $3,000, he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of this is being donated,\u201d Cummings said. \u201cSome we pay out as we go. Some are on layaway. Some are on credit. We do what it takes to get through.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful for all of our sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The church also has less funds to work with this year, he noted. <\/p>\n
Bethlehem Temple annually hosts a charity basketball game that raises about $10,000 for Thanksgiving and Christmas food distribution. This year, the game raised \u201cless than $5,000,\u201d according to Cummings. He said this was most likely because he was out of the country doing required missionary work in Africa and wasn\u2019t able to promote the game as he did in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a different economy when we started 35 years ago,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe were unique, but that\u2019s not the case now. There are a lot of agencies providing services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a large donor base, and we\u2019re not a large church. We don\u2019t get $100,000 donations. Most of our donations are for $10 or $20, and we are grateful for what we do get. We are very appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Money needed always seems to show up at the church when needed, Cummings continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe get a miracle every time,\u201d he said. \u201cGod blesses us every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cummings noted those wanting to make donations to the church should go online to bethlehemapostolictemple.org. They may also mail a check to Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, P.O. Box 6051, Wheeling, WV 26003 and write in the memo it is for the food ministry or Thanksgiving giveaway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may not have all we want, but we are going to make the best of what we do have.,\u201d he said. \u201cThanksgiving is one of those holidays that nobody is saying is corrupt or a bad holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, many say the world is taking the \u201cChrist\u201d out of Christmas, and that the season is more about commercialism than spiritualism or love, Cummings explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody says that about Thanksgiving,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re not taking the \u2018thanks\u2019 out of Thanksgiving. Families still come together and celebrate another year. There is still thanks in Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n
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