Families wait hours for food, lines wrap around building

WILSON, N.C. - North Carolina is one of nine states rated higher than the national average where families are worried about putting enough food on the table.

It's a harsh statistic right here at Thanksgiving, but 2,000 of those families got some relief.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this line would be worth that plus a thousand more.

"I got up this morning at 3:30 and I got down here at 4 a.m. and their was a line and it was raining outside and I said, 'oh my gosh, how are we going to manage this?” said Howard Jones, Opportunities Industrialization Center President & Founder.

It's managing and feeding 2,000 hungry families for Thanksgiving.  A task even more daunting this year because of the lines that wrap around the Opportunities Industrialization Center in Wilson.

Some of the people waited for more than 12 hours.

"Everyone's having a hard time and we're trying to get by.  We need the food to help," said Debbie Morton, a food recipient.

"I see people in line today, two years ago they were just like you and I, had a job, paid the bills, never dreamed they'd be standing in this line," said Jones, "And then I see them looking a little down, sort of ashamed, I have to go to them and let them know it's ok."

150 Volunteers filled the bags with chicken, bacon, cabbage and much more, while others provide health screenings, all free and all in the spirit of giving.

Back in the line, Joyce Tomlin says she'll give too.

"Some of it I give to the church, some I can use but when I can't use it all I give it to the church," said Tomlin, "You know I just think God just for being here, that's the wonderful thing of all."

Tomlin says it's a serving of "wonderful" in a brown paper bag.

Veronica Diggs is just glad to be sitting inside.  She's been waiting in line outside for hours.  Now she's just hoping for good news from her health screening.

"Day-by-day.  Just thanking God every day that all my family is well and everyone else is well," said Diggs as she waits for her screening result.

She doesn't know what she'd do without this service.

"It would be a disaster.  With the economy like it is… it would be even worse if it wasn't for this organization here," said Diggs.

Diggs says she'll also pick up a free bag of food with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving.

"It's truly a blessing, it really is," said Diggs.

Kathi Boykin and her daughter Sarah are glad they will have something to be thankful for this year.

"We come every year, every year," said Boykin.

Boykin got the turkey, but was hoping the OIC could provide her daughter's favorite side dish: Salad.

"That's what we’re asked at the end of the day.  Not where you live or what kind of car you got, but what did you do?" said Jones.

For the Boykin Family, it's making Thanksgiving that much better.

Each bag contained around 30 pounds of food.  All packed by more than 150 volunteers during two days.

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WILSON, N.C (WNCT) - Thousands of families in the east, many of whom had nothing to eat this Thanksgiving, now have all the trimmings.

Lines wrapped around the Opportunities Industrialization Center in Wilson where volunteers handed out 2,000 bags of food, everything from whole chickens to collards and potatoes, all of it free of charge.

It’s part of an annual giveaway done by the OIC as part of their efforts to fight hunger in the community.

“As long as we’re able to provide any kind of assistance to help here for them, it just gives them a little lift and for them to see they’re going to have a nice Thanksgiving and they’re people that didn’t have no idea if whether they were going to have a Thanksgiving, but now they’ll have 30 pounds of food,” said Howard Jones, OIC President & Founder.

Free health screenings were also available.

Starting at five tonight, we’ll take a deeper look at how these simple bags of food are changing a community this holiday season.