PORTSMOUTH- A local pastor has declared war on hunger and is now asking residents to help him defeat the enemy and ensure that no family is worrying about where their next meal is coming from this winter.

Gary Newman, Pastor at Sandhill International Pentecostal Church of Christ, said that after the holiday meal giveaways and the huge need our community has during that time of year, his pantry is now lacking supplies. He wasn’t sure what the next move would be, but he knew that his small church of only 25 needed to take action quickly. He said that the whole congregation wants to continue with the work that they have been doing, “We are a small church, but we have given away truckloads of food over the last year.”

Pastor Newman said that he is passionate about this cause because he knows what it is like to go to bed hungry, “I don’t care to share that I was a poor boy growing up. My mom tried her best to make sure we were taken care of, but times were hard. I don’t know if you have ever went to sleep hungry, but I have and I want to make sure people don’t have to experience that if I can.”

The food drive will be taking place Saturday, February 3, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. It will be on the corner of 23 South and 52 East by Tim Hortons and Long John Silver’s in Portsmouth. For those who would like to donate non-perishable food items, or make a cash donation, but may not be able to get there that day, he said they would still appreciate and accept those donations.

The only request that Pastor Newman asked was to make sure all dates are good on those donated items. “Please just make sure dates are good, we can’t take anything that is expired for our food pantry. We really try here at Sandhill, we gave away over 750 thousand lbs. of food away during the pandemic and we just want to keep working at fighting hunger in our area.”