78-year-old woman feeds thousands during pandemic

Since 2004, Lee Etta Pulley has fed countless people through food boxes she distributes in Spring Hope. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 78-year-old has been busier than ever in the past year.

"A lot of people don’t want to [seek food from a charity], but they have to do it to survive, to try to make ends meet for the family," Pulley said Tuesday, noting that she’s seeing people she’s never seen before lining up for food boxes.

A recent Urban Institute study found that nearly one in five adults turned to charities for food in December 2020, or 50 percent more than a year earlier. Reduced work hours and unemployment pushed even more Americans into food insecurity.

"I see a lot that needs to be done for our community," Pulley said.

But her work affects people far from the Spring Hope community. People drive from as far away as Raleigh and Goldsboro to pick up the food boxes she and other volunteers put together at Spring Hope Pentecostal Holiness Church. On Tuesday, they gave away 300 boxes, each with about $70 worth of food.

"I enjoy what I do. I love what I do," Pulley said, noting that she doesn't plan to stop any time soon.

Helping others appears to run in the family: Pulley’s son, Gregory Quick, runs the Three in One Family Center and has fed countless of people in Wayne County.