DURBIN — A few years ago, Nancy Alley asked God what she could do to help people. She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“I prayed and a few days later our pastor, Everett Stevens, asked if I wanted to start a food pantry,” she said as the pastor delivered an inspired sermon to a near capacity crowd gathered at Durbin Church of the Nazarene for their annual Christmas food, clothing and toy distribution event.

Along with her husband, Paul, Alley has been helping meet the needs of people in the Durbin area for the last six years. There are times when the retired couple feel exhausted from the work, and other moments when they wonder how they will ever find enough food for everyone in need, she says, although God seems to have a way of working things out.

“Our first Thanksgiving we thought we would have 30 to 35 families and I looked out the office door and it was a crowd. I thought we would never have enough food for everybody,” she said, fanning her face as the memory came back to her. “We ended up with 50 or 60 families, but we had enough food for everyone and a little left over.”

The Alleys coordinate the Durbin church’s “Compassionate Ministry” program with the support of a long list of volunteers, area businesses and church members.

“It is a full-time job. This is all volunteer. Nobody gets paid,” said Alley, 68, of Louisa. She estimates the church files now contain the names of 200 to 300 families who sometimes rely on their food pantry.

“Not all of them come every month. Most of them come as they need food,” she explained. “We just have to guess at it and pray we have enough.”

For their Christmas gathering, Alley said volunteers planned for 108 families as they divided food, clothing and toys according to family size and ages. Contributions from Louisa’s Food City store, as well as a food service company and the Wal-Mart there, helped make the Christmas harvest plentiful, Alley said, adding the Huntington Food Pantry and River Cities Harvest are among their best supporters.

“There are a lot of times when the money gets low and I think we might have to shut down,” Alley said. “I pray and within a day or two somebody calls me. It is unbelievable how God helps us.”

Her face lit up as she remembered a recent call from the Louisa Wal-Mart manager letting them know they had 1,800 cans of different vegetables and soups to give the church.

“I cried. I was never so happy in my life,” Alley said of the donation. “We get a lot of joy out of this.”

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Christmas event is the chance to provide toys, ranging from stuffed animals to dolls, a selection of toy trucks, and educational toys for children, who get to “shop” from the room full of goodies for their own gifts.

Most of the families that benefit from the program have between two and five members, she said, although the church volunteers also portion food products into bags for families of up to 10 people. The church aims at assisting people in southern Boyd County as well as Lawrence County, she said, noting people closer to Ashland are referred to food pantry programs in the city.

Durbin Church of the Nazarene helped feed 103 families this Thanksgiving, and distributes food to local families on the third Friday of every month, Alley said. Typically, she said they spend three weeks per month gathering food and another week completing paperwork.

“I do have a lot of help. We all just work together,” Alley said as she tried to think of all the people who help make the compassionate ministry program a success. One of her greatest assets, she said, is Daphne Goodlowe, adding, “I couldn’t make it without her.” The list of crucial volunteers also includes Devonda Hunt, Amber Wheeler, Merkie Crisp, Charlotte Ratliff and Donna Randall.

Waiting for families to come through and select clothing and toys, volunteer Devonda Hunt said she believes the overall need in the community has increased in the past year.

“I think more money also came in this year than ever before,” Hunt said. “That was just God taking care of the situation.”

Alley said everyone involved hopes to provide local families with more than just a meal.

“Our goal is to help people not only with their food, but with their soul food, their spiritual help,” Alley explained. “Without God, none of us could do any of this.”