Local church collects food, shares holiday spirit with needy families

CINCINNATI - Thousands of local families will have a slightly more festive Thanksgiving thanks to a two-day food drive held by a local church community.

On Saturday and Sunday, members of the Crossroads church were expected to drop off around 9,000 boxes of food to locations in Oakley, Mason and Florence. The collected food will later be redistributed to needy families in the Greater Cincinnati area.

As a result of the drive, about 4,500 boxes of food will be distributed to 70 inner-city churches and charities in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The churches and charities will then share the collected goods with families in their communities who are in need of help this holiday season.

The Crossroads congregations will donate an additional 4,300 boxes of food to two charities in South Africa.

Officials with the Crossroads church say the food drive provides about 300,000 meals for Thanksgiving.

The holiday food drive has inspired similar initiatives in Louisiana and Georgia, according to officials from the Crossroads church.