GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A church on the northwest side of Grand Rapids treated more than 150 local first responders to a special lunch Wednesday.
Acts Gospel Ministries held its First Responder Appreciation Luncheon.
“We are celebrating our first responders,” Pastor Moses Alexander said. “We think that they do so much for us and so we wanted to let them know that we appreciate them…This is a small token of how we can show our appreciation to those who put their life on the line for us every day.”
Pastor Moses Alexander and his wife have been serving in the neighborhood for more than 16 years.
“We have steak meals for them today [Wednesday]. First, the best for the best. We have porterhouse steak and T-bone steak, and they can get them cooked any way they want,” Pastor Moses explained.
However, he says this celebration is about much more than the delicious food.
“We wanted to not be indifferent because of, because a lot of people think that, you know, African American[s], police officers, they sort of, like, think we don’t go together. I just wanted to demonstrate that we do go together by this celebration,” he added. “That’s why we are so big on relationships because if we can build relationships, we can solve a lot of community situations.”
Acts Gospel Ministries isn’t just working on building relationships right now, but also, for generations to come.
“It’s critical for that generation coming up because we sort of think that police are against us. They’re really here to help us,” he said. “I think it’s critical that we as a community demonstrate, by putting on events like this, that they are people that we want in our community to help us resolve and then be a demonstration to a younger generation.”
Acts Gospel Ministries is at 950 12th Street NW in Grand Rapids.
