VICKSBURG, Mich. — Valley Family Church is hosting its eighth “Love Week,” giving away groceries and back-to-school supplies to families in need.
Love Week kicked off Thursday at the first of three locations— Farmers Market Pavilion in Vicksburg.
Throughout Love Week, hundreds of volunteers from VFC will distribute free groceries, along with backpacks filled with school supplies for K-12 students.
Other items that will be given away include diapers, formula, clothing and stuffed animals.
"It's such a joy, man. It's fun to see the smiles on so many people's faces," Lead Pastor Eric Jones said. "So many kids getting blessed."
VFC’s other distributions will happen Friday from 6 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. at Tyler Field in Paw Paw and Saturday from 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. at Upjohn Park in Kalamazoo.
Each event includes free inflatable games, a cookout, face painting and other fun activities for the families who attend.
Over the past Love Week events, VFC has provided more than 189,700 meals and distributed 4,139 backpacks.
This year, they plan to give away more than 750 backpacks— Children must be present to get one.
VFC’s Valley Groceries food pantry opened in 2012 and has since given away 3.22 million meals to those in need throughout the community.
Valley Family Church is at 2500 Vincent Avenue in Portage. The Valley Groceries Food Pantry is available every Tuesday at the church from 5:30 p.m.- 7 p.m.
"We're taking what we do every Tuesday night at the church for Valley Groceries and we're going to different communities," Lead Pastor Alexa Jones explained. "Every Tuesday night we hand out groceries to people— no questions asked, no strings attached."
To donate, call 269-324-5599 or email food@valleyfamilychurch.org.
