Community Church recently hosted a Thanksgiving drive and benefited thousands of people.

“Every family deserves the opportunity to make memories on Thanksgiving,” Michael Brueseke, one of the church’s senior pastors, stated in a press release. “No one should have to worry about what they are going to eat. That’s why we’re doing this.”

Back in October, the church began partnering with families, local schools and foster care agencies to identify families in need. Following this, the community rallied together to fill several hundred boxes with Thanksgiving essentials.

The boxes were filled with turkeys, stuffing, pies and canned goods.

On the morning of Nov. 19, more than 180 people came to the church’s campuses in Western Branch and Kempsville to distribute the meals to more than 4,500 people across Hampton Roads.

The boxes were picked up either by families in need or foster agencies. Additionally, some of the meals were delivered to the homes of those without transportation.

“To be able to impact Hampton Roads like this makes us very proud every year,” said Dawn Sutherland, the church’s creative and marketing director.

The church has hosted the Thanksgiving drives for more than five years. Due to the church’s growing membership, Sutherland said their volunteer initiatives and food drives always have a strong showing. In fact, Outreach Magazine deemed it one of the nation’s fastest growing churches.

“As we keep growing, we will get bigger and bigger,” she said.

Sutherland predicted the drive’s donation output increases by about 20 percent each year.

“We know that every one of those 4,500 people has a name, and every name matters to God,” Megan Brueseke, another one of the church’s senior pastors, stated in a press release. “We hope every family has an amazing Thanksgiving. The best is yet to come for Hampton Roads and for Community Church.”