Cars began lining up before 10 a.m. outside Trinity Baptist Church last Saturday, eager to receive a box of food for Thanksgiving.

The event, hosted by the Sarah T. Turner Missionary Society, saw more than 150 families receive boxes filled with pantry staples such as bread, turkey stuffing mix, canned goods, Top Ramen, Kool-Aid packets, Kraft Mac and Cheese and fresh vegetables.

“A lot of [the food] is from the members of the missionary and a lot of our members actually donated,” said Robert Hughes, Trinity Baptist Church’s media relations specialist. “We have a food drive usually starting around the last Sunday in October.”

Throughout the morning, volunteers worked in a coordinated system. One person inside the church passed a heavy meal box to another outside where the cars lined up, and another volunteer would put the meal box in the driver’s vehicle.

After “thank yous” and “Happy Thanksgivings” were exchanged, the process repeated for the next driver.

The church, founded in 1906, has been distributing food during Thanksgiving since the Great Depression. This year marks the second time they’ve hosted a drive-thru event, allowing families to remain in their vehicles. The church decided to do this grab-and-go concept to avoid the hassle of people registering and waiting for their food.

“It’s a churchwide effort,” the Rev. Wendy Bullock, Trinity Baptist Church’s executive minister, said. “It helps us as Christians be able to share the love of Christ with people in the community. It helps people to know that we love them, we care about them and if we have a little bit, we can share with others.”

Volunteer Kevin Brian said he chose to help with the food distribution because he wanted to contribute to his community.

“It’s all about the giving,” he said. “That’s what we’re here to do, serve, really. If we can’t serve anybody else, what’s the use of being on this earth?”

While more than 150 meal boxes were distributed to the public, a few boxes were reserved for Trinity’s senior citizen members.

Rather than providing cooked or frozen turkeys, the church chose to distribute $15 Food Lion gift cards, allowing families to purchase their own turkey or any meat they prefer for their Thanksgiving meal.

“We don’t judge anyone,” Bullock said. “We want to be a vessel in the community that shows love to everyone, regardless of race, color, or status, because we don’t know their situation.”