Citizen of the Week: Francena Lewis helps feed the hungry

Published 11:00 am Thursday, June 15, 2023

Pastor David Thomas of Community Fellowship Church said when the church opened its food bank he knew there was a need in the community but he didn’t realize how strong that need was.

“We’ve been doing this for six or seven years,” he said. “It started out very small. But it has gotten very big. I think we distributed 100,000 pounds of food last year.”

Spearheading that growth is church member Francena Lewis. She has been the organizer of the food bank since it started.

“Once a month, we give a couple of pretty big boxes each to 150 families,” Thomas said. “And it’s getting bigger. We serve a part of the community that’s very underserved.”

Lewis coordinates all of the volunteers.

“We’ve got about 20 consistent volunteers from our church,” Thomas said. “We’ve got others who volunteer as they can. With school being out, we’ll have some kids over there. and we sometimes have people doing community service. She oversees all of that.”

Lewis is constantly seeking grants and donations to help stock the food bank. If someone wants to donate to the food bank they can call (706) 463-0944.

For her efforts to keep the Community Fellowship Church food bank running and to serve those in need, the Dalton Daily Citizen names Francena Lewis Citizen of the Week.