LEXINGTON, S.C. — Mission Lexington is working on putting together their holiday pre-packed bags for families in need in the community.
The crisis ministry has been serving the community since 1978. According to their website, Mission Lexington helps meets 30,000 needs in the community each year.
"The holidays are very busy for us under normal circumstances," said Lauren Palkowski, the Director of Community Relations for the crisis ministry. "Last year we gave out about 1,040 of these pre-packed bags."
Due to the numbers Mission Lexington has seen recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, they're expecting an increase in the number of people they serve over the holidays.
Their numbers have been up as much as 40 percent each month.
"We will give one to our neighbors either during the month of November or December," said Palkowski. "So if they come to see us at the beginning of November, that's their visit for the month."
Mission Lexington is continuing to collect the items they need for the pre-packed bags.
This year will look a different for the pre-packed bags.
"Normally we have a turkey or ham that we give to the neighbor that we serve, but this year due to space and lack of manpower, we're going to put a $10 gift card in each bag so the neighbor can go and pick their turkey or their ham up for their family," explained Palkowski.
There's several items people can bring in to help Mission Lexington serve other families. This includes items such as canned sweet potatoes, canned collards/turnips and stuffing mix. For a full list of the items you can bring to help families in the Lexington community, click here.
Palkowski believes it's important to help serve neighbors in the community.
"We want every family to be able to gather together and to provide their family with a meal. It's just important to be able to provide that service for them," said Palkowski.
If someone would like to receive a holiday pre-packed bag, they can visit Mission Lexington at 216 Harmon Street in Lexington or send an email to ss@missionlexingtonsc.org.
The hours for the crisis ministry has changed at this time. They're open to the public Monday through Thursday from 10 am until 1 pm.