Though the holidays can be a whirl of trying to visit family members, not start any big fights over politics at the dinner table, and meet the varying demands of life and work, all of which make it hard to remember the reason for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season: God and gratitude. Fortunately for all of us, a church in North Carolina is setting an example by feeding families in need over Thanksgiving.

That is the Lawndale Baptist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, which feeds a thousand local families in need every year in honor of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. It does so by handing out the meals to those who drive through, starting at 6:30 in the morning.

Announcing the program on its Facebook page, the church said, “Feeding the 5000 || November 21, 6:30 am. Just as Jesus fed the hungry as He was ministering to them, we are reaching out to the hungry in our community. This is a drive through only event. We will give a turkey to the first 1,000 families (limit 1 per family). Each bag will include a frozen turkey, a $25 Food Lion gift card for food, and literature. Please do not arrive before 6:00 am. Lawndale members interested in serving contact Jimmy Jackson.”

Jimmy Jackson, the lead pastor of the church, spoke to the Christian Post about the event and from where the church drew inspiration for it, saying, “Jesus, during His early ministry, fed over 5000 at a teaching he did as told in Matthew 14:13-21. As Christians, we believe that we are to meet the needs of our community and be a good neighbor, just as Jesus did and taught.”

For reference, Matthew 14:13-21 is the passage in which Jesus uses the fish and loaves to feed 5000 people. That passage says:

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’ ‘We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered. ‘Bring them here to me,’ he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.“

In any case, Pastor Jackson then noted that the annual event is one of the ways the church tries to help out its community, saying, “One of the ways we do this is to provide this event each year. We also provide a Shepherd’s Shelf food pantry each week as well.”

Continuing, he added that the goal of that community involvement is to draw people into Christ’s love and teachings, saying, “The biggest thing we want our community to take away from this event is [that] Jesus loves them more than they could ever fathom.”

He then noted, “We do this event each year in the name of Christ and for His glory. We also want our community to know that we, Lawndale Baptist, are there for them and love them as well. If our community sees us modeling Christ, then Christ gets all the glory.”