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More than 1,000 show up for food giveaway

By  Stephanie Springer  - bio | email

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - More than one thousand people lined up Thursday morning at the National Guard Armory in Albany waiting for bags of food. It's something we're seeing more of as the economy continues to struggle.

It was a busy scene in front of the National Guard Armory Thursday morning. Hundreds of people were waiting in line for food, some waited for hours.

"It would be better if they had more lines opened so it would move faster, but you know a lot of us don't have places to go so we'll wait," said Dorothy Wilson.

"They come before we even open sometimes they'll be here at 7:00am and we don't open till 8:00am and we don't start until 9:00am," said Natasha Dawson, an event organizer.

Like several others, Wilson says this food giveaway will help put food in her cabinets and on her plate when times are tough and additional help is needed.

"We can all use food the way the time is right about now, checks have been cut a lot of people don't have places to live," said Dorothy.

Before noon, food had already been given away to more than 1,000 people.

"A lot of people have always worked so when something like this is offered to the public we feel like we have a right to it and that's why I'm here, because I need things too," said Dorothy.

But the need is even greater in Dougherty County. Willie Ross spent the night delivering food to people who were unable to come.

"I do the handicap the homeless and people who don't have cars and cant get here," said Ross.

He worked with volunteers Wednesday night until midnight, getting only two hours of sleep before getting up early to help again Thursday.

"I had to get up and I did the east side of Albany also and the two hours of sleep I did get I was happy because I went to bed knowing that no one was hungry that came out yesterday," said Ross.

Organizers say they have enough food to feed 2,500 people in Albany.

Each person who qualifies for the food giveaway gets a bag of food with 30 items including rice and beans, pasta, and soups.

Organizers say they plan to hold the next commodity distribution sometime next year.

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