Church gives out cash for food

JACKSON- The members of one local church have been giving away cash to help people buy food.

"We wanted to do something special for Easter for the community," said Christopher D. Soleberry, pastor of the Hope of Glory Worship Center. "Easter to Christians represents sacrifice, commitment, and hope, and we wanted to transfer those qualities to the local residents of Jackson. Instead of the church asking for money, we have given it out for food. By doing this we are showing our commitment to our town, our residents and our church family."

He saidmore than $2,000 in $5 bills was handed out to people who were entering the Jackson ShopRite.

"Congregants were stationed by teams at the entrance and with the approval of the manager we gave away $5 to anyone who was purchasing food," Soleberry said. "It was wonderful. Some people took the money freely, while others took it with all the skepticism they could muster and then there were those who would just outright refuse to accept it."

The pastor said that for the congregants, the joy in giving out the money was explaining to people that Christ dying on the cross was a "free gift" that some have taken freely.

"Believe it or not, it was hard pushing off money to some people without any strings or catches," Soleberry said. "This is once again our way of reaching out to the community. As small as we are, no other church in our town, as big as they are, has done something like this.