Frequently Asked Questions
Receiving a Meal
1. Who can receive a meal? Anyone who lives within 30 miles of the Food Lion store in Farmville, VA can receive a meal.
2. What does the meal have in it? Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, string beans, pumpkin pie and a fresh roll. Substitution may be necessary if an item is unavailable.
3. What time will my meal arrive? It should arrive by noon on Thanksgiving.
4. When is it too late to order a meal? Generally, we take orders for meals up until one week before Thanksgiving. Then we stop taking orders so we can organize delivery routes. We also stop taking orders when our quota of 1,000 meals has been met. Please get your order in as soon as possible.
5. Why do I have to provide my name? We use names to avoid duplicate orders so we can feed as many people as possible!
6. Why do I have to provide a phone number? We use your phone number to verify your order and ask for directions if needed. You will not receive a meal without a phone number.
7. How many meals should I order? One for every person in your house.
8. Why can’t I pick up my meal? First, feeding 1,000 people requires organization. Accommodating take-out orders requires a different process and planning. Second, our experience is that we have many more no shows for pick-up than for delivery. We want to feed as many people as possible!
Delivering Meals
9. Who can deliver meals? There must be one adult in each driving team. Other than that, we encourage everyone to experience delivering meals. It is awesome to see God at work in our community! It is a really great experience for many children and families, and a Thanksgiving to remember!
10. Why do you require two people in every driving team? First, for the safety of our driving teams and the people we deliver to. Second, it’s also great fellowship!
11. Can my children help? YES! This is a fabulous way for your children to serve the Lord and their neighbor, and to learn about the needs of their neighbors and how we can help. Children should ALWAYS be accompanied by an adult.
12. What should I do if I’m delivering a meal, and nobody is home? Leave the meals at the house. Try to identify which door is used regularly, and leave them at that door.
13. What should I do if I can’t find an address? Call the phone number provided for the home and ask for directions. If nobody answers call us at (434) 392-1875 to ask for help.
Starting a Program Like This
14. How do I start a program like this? We started with prayer and a handful of people who accepted the Lord’s challenge. We don’t believe this is something that any one of us could accomplish -- but a big God can. Therefore, we endeavor to keep God at the center and keep our names off everything. That also encourages everyone in the community to participate because it is a community project led by the Lord.
If you want to learn more, we invite you to come and watch what we do and then try it in your own community! We also invite questions. We would love to pay witness to the Lord doing this in other communities.
15. How many turkeys does it take to feed 1,000 people? 34
16. Who designed your website? NSI Partners LLC, a local digital-marketing agency, worked with us to design and launch this site. We think they really captured the message and vision of our project.
Making Donations
17. Do you have a tax-exempt certificate? Yes. St. John’s Lutheran Church organizes the project and manages the finances, so the tax-exempt certificate is theirs.
18. Why must food donations be a specific brand or size? When you cook for 1,000 people you have to follow specific recipes, so any variation in the ingredients adds a wrinkle and slows us down. We appreciate you helping us by providing the specific product we ask for.
Have Other Questions?
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