SWFL church serves free hot meals for four days following Hurricane Ian

Members of Mount Hermon Church in Fort Myers jumped into action by passing out hot meals to those in need following Hurricane Ian.

“I'm part of a clergy group that pools shared resources anytime there's a natural disaster,” said William Glover, senior pastor at Mount Hermon Church. “The day after the storm with the power outage being so widespread people were unable to prepare meals. “We realized that people were going to need to eat and that they were going to need to have hot meals.”

Mount Hermon Church is located at 2856 Douglas Ave. Hot meals will be served today starting with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. Lunch consists of burgers, hotdogs, coleslaw, potato salad and water. Dinner is a combination of grilled chicken quarters, pulled pork, Cuban beans and rice and vegetables.

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“We were able to connect with a nonprofit called Insurance Care Direct,” said Glover. “Part of their business model is to provide relief meals during times of disaster. We were able to connect with them and they have been preparing lunch and dinner for the community. We’ve served first responders, line workers, elderly, and the homeless for the past four days. We have prepared more than 10,000 hot meals.”

Glover said that providing the hot meals has been a team effort.

“The organization brought in about a dozen volunteers with them to run their operations,” said Glover. “We’ve had about a dozen volunteers consisting of church membership but also a lot of community people have come through and volunteered as well.”

Glover said being able to offer hot meals to those in need has been a rewarding experience.

“It's really rewarding for a number of reasons,” said Glover. “We were the first food distribution center to be set up as early as Saturday. Oftentimes by the time aid or assistance gets to our community it's a second thought. We got aid early and it felt good to be able to do that. It’s rewarding both in terms of providing meals to the community and  also making sure those who came to help us make certain that they get  something hot as well. So it’s tremendously rewarding.”

Fort Myers native Greg Jackson was one of many to pick up a hot meal.

“I felt the love,” said 43-year-old-Jackson. “Seeing all the smiles on people’s faces and the church being part of the solution was amazing. He’s a great pastor who really has a heart for the community.  Even before the storm they’ve always kept with their mission of having a redeeming influence in their community.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers church serves 10,000 hot meals following Hurricane Ian