VIDALIA, La. — Fred Trujillo likes to say that before he found salvation in Jesus Christ, he &uot;was on the wrong road.&uot; But by joining Vidalia Assembly of God and volunteering with its nonprofit organization, Feed the Hungry, he has found a new road — one that leads to an Alexandria food bank.

Twice a month for the last several months, Trujillo has borrowed a truck from another Feed the Hungry volunteer, hooked a trailer onto the back and driven more than 70 miles to the food bank.

Once there, he loads the truck and trailer to the brim with canned goods, produce, eggs, butter and other staples and drives it back to the nonprofit’s Vidalia headquarters to be boxed and distributed to the needy at the end of each month.

Next week, he will begin using a used truck the nonprofit just bought, said Director Linda Bonnette.

This month, Feed the Hungry has given out almost 10,000 pounds of food.

&uot;I never realized how many needy people there were in this area until I got involved with Feed the Hungry,&uot;&160;said Trujillo, who drove a mail truck for 11 years before he retired due to diabetes and heart problems.

Trujillo has attended Vidalia Assembly of God since April 1996 and has been involved with its food ministries for two years. At first, he and five or six other members would regularly travel to the Alexandria food bank to volunteer there.

Feed the Hungry started when the church’s members began collecting canned goods for the needy, depositing the food in barrels at the church. The charity grew from there and in November 1998 moved to a metal building next to the church on U.S. 84 West near Vidalia.

And when Bonnette spoke of the need for someone to bring the food from the food bank to the nonprofit’s headquarters, Trujillo answered.

Trujillo admitted that before he was saved by Christ, he mostly thought of himself first. But now he welcomes the chance to demonstrate his Christian faith through works – a philosophy he said is shared by the whole congregation.

&uot;I&160;do think God called me to do this,&uot;&160;said Trujillo, whose wife Jean also helps out by picking up donations left in Feed the Hungry jars at local stores. &uot;We give to others, but I’m blessed, too. God blesses me through this.&uot;