First I wanted to thank all of you who helped make yesterday's mobile food pantry distribution an amazing success.  I certainly thank Rev. Nicole Slater and the congregation of Payne Chapel AME Church for partnering with us.  Watching all of us work together convinced me more than ever that we can accomplish more together than we can alone.  We had so many volunteers that I had to place a second lunch order (which is a good problem to have).  I want to share with all of you how God is working during this COVID-19 pandemic and blessing us to bless others.  We served about 400 people and were able to give away over 10,000 lbs of food yesterday in under 3 hours at no cost to us.  It did not cost us anything but our time.

Also in addition to that, the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama gave us 300 Publix gift cards at $100 each to give out on yesterday.  I heard stories of people crying and shouting upon receiving the unexpected gift cards.  It is just truly awesome to watch God show up and just blow your mind!

We have a small gift for every woman in the church.  Some of them have already been given to your family members or friends to deliver to you.  If you (or someone in your family) is able, please feel free to stop by the church tomorrow between 10:00am - 12:00pm to pick up your gift.  You can also come on Sunday around 11:45am (after worship service). 

As many of you are aware, Gov. Ivey has loosened restrictions on churches being able to gather in groups larger than 10 effective on Monday, May 11.  As I stated in previous emails, we will continue with our current operating conditions for the month of May and we will reevaluate at that end of the month.  This decision is being made for two reasons:

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1. The new COVID-19 cases in Alabama are not yet decreasing.  By resuming large gatherings at this time, even with maintaining 6 feet of distance, we increase our risk of infection.

2. This COVID-19 virus has proved to be much more serious and deadly for African Americans than for other groups.

At the end of the day, I love you all too much to risk your health and safety at this time.  We will all worship together again real soon and it will be wonderful to see all of you again.