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18K meals served by volunteers for Florence victims at Lumberton Church

Hurricane Florence victims in Lumberton told NBC Charlotte Thursday they waited in line for an hour at Hyde Park Baptist Church for a hot meal. The line went on for miles.

LUMBERTON, N.C. --

Hyde Park Baptist Church’s parking lot is the site of a massive cooking operation in Lumberton, N.C. and hundreds of people patiently waited in long lines to get there.

“I’ve been waiting in line for about 45 minutes,” said David Cummings of Wilmington, N.C.

Cummings told WCNC he’s staying at his job location not too far from the church because his home is under water.

“It’s a long line?” WCNC asked. “Yeah,” Cummings said, “it goes all the way back down the street for about three miles.”

“I don’t have any food,” Cummings also said.

Wanda Locklear is a teacher in Robeson County.

“We don’t know when we’ll be able to go back to work because of, um, we have flooding to some of our schools,” she said, while waiting in her car.

Locklear waited closer to an hour.

But for Florence victims this was a lifeline because their emergency food supply is gone and so are the rest of their resources.

“… It’s kind of hard because I mean, you know, preparing for the hurricane, I mean we had to spend out the money,” Locklear said.

Both went to Lumberton’s Hyde Park Baptist Church -- where after what seemed like an endless line of cars, was an endless line of people wanting the help!

Church members, a group called North Carolina Baptist Men, and the Red Cross teamed-up to provide home-cooked meals. A lead organizer, Greg Riggs, tells WCNC they served 18,000 on Wednesday.

The group is planning to cook for the next couple of weeks, if not months.

“People are distressed right now because a lot of people who didn’t have very much to start with now have nothing,” said North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper. He stopped by Hyde Park Church on Thursday hoping to lift some spirits.

“Roberson County has now been hit twice in a period of two years… This is a strong county and I believe that all of us working together (can) get back on our feet,” said the Governor.

The effort in Lumberton is completely volunteer. Locklear called it a blessing.

The volunteers have been offering freshly cooked lunches and dinners at the church. Lunch was served between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. They start serving dinner at 4 p.m.

There is space for people to walk-in and grab a meal if someone is unable to drive to the church.

Hyde Park Baptist Church is located at 301 N Roberts Ave, Lumberton, NC 28358.

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