For the last two years, the Iglesia Bautista Capernaum in Olmito has been distributing fresh produce every Monday.

Now, the church of 100 people gives out more 1,500 boxes of food and milk to the community.

While food distribution lines have been popping up throughout the Rio Grande Valley during the pandemic, the church has been feeding local families for years.

"We started in one house, then moved to another house. Then to a park where we constructed a tent," Pastor Rogelio Perez said. 

Despite the pandemic, the church continued to provide for the community. The church even adapted to using technology to reach current and new members, Perez said.

“A lot of them had COVID…Yet here we are,” Perez said. “We haven't stopped.”

Among the congregation members affected by COVID-19 was Veronica Mares, who at one point was hospitalized due to low oxygen levels.

Now she’s continuing to help distribute food for the community.

“God is always blessing me giving me life. And if I can have my life and health then I want to serve god," Mares said.  

For Perez the food distribution at the church exemplifies what he has been preaching for years: for a community to get through something together, we have to make sure our neighbors are all right.