Name: Volunteer! Drive through mobile pantry
Start: 2026-04-25T08:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-25T11:00:00-04:00
Location: Tabernacle Baptist Church East End

Tabernacle Baptist Church East End
1408 Marshall Avenue, Newport News
Join us as we connect with an army of Tabernacle Baptist Church East End members to help distribute food supplies to families! This event is a monthly drive-through distribution with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank partner on a Saturday morning. That's right, we're out of the warehouse and into the sunshine!
Led by experienced volunteers wearing bright yellow vests, we're shown where to park our own cars and then shown their system how to box up and bag up food supplied by the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. Then the "drive thru distro" begins! All the while under the watchful eye of a Virginia Peninsula Foodbank staff member who also happens to be pastor of the church.
"What I like about this experience is you get to meet the people who are directly being helped", said Becky Burley, '03, Secondary Education. Last year, Becky made the drive from her home in Suffolk. She added, "it's rewarding to make a personal connection. True, it's brief. Even so, last year I felt that recipients really appreciated our help as small a gesture as it may be."
Like Becky, Hampton resident Mike Heckenberger, '80 Sp Com, USAF (ret.), has been a Penn State volunteer at foodbanks for years. While hunger is a serious situation that affects many East End residents, Mike remembers the upbeat atmosphere last year. "There was something almost spiritual about joining up with the church members knowing that a few hours of our time on a Saturday morning made an impact."
No signup required- just show up!