Cars line up for a mile in free gas giveaway sponsored by Indianapolis church

INDIANAPOLIS — An Eastside church sponsored a gas giveaway for 300 lucky community members on Saturday.

Kingdom Apostolic Ministries, at 4900 E. 38th St., sits two doors down from the Marathon Station at 38th Street and North Emerson Avenue.

“We wanted to give gas to the community because we know gas prices are high right now. We want them to know that we care about them,” says Kingdom Apostolic’s outreach pastor, Denise Moore.

The giveaway didn’t start until 10 a.m., but Juanita Wallace got there at 5 a.m. and was third in line.

“I got here at about 5. I went in and got a cup of coffee. I already had a couple of donuts in the car, then I laid down and went back to sleep,” Wallace said.

Pastor Moore arrived a little later.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see the people lining up at 7 in the morning,” Moore said.

People continued to line up, eventually leading to Emerson being closed down. IMPD had to step in to direct traffic and keep an eye out for those trying to jump the line. WRTV found the end of the line a mile down the road, past 46th Street.

“We know we live in a part of town where the needs are greater than in other parts of the city. Giving back is very important — especially for the church because that is the message of Jesus Christ," said Moore.

Each person got $20 worth of gas, and volunteers worked the pumps until 11:30 a.m. with a plan to fill up to 300 tanks. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, the help is welcome.

Tameeka Ratliff waited three hours for her gas and was grateful to the church for helping the community.

“I'm very grateful that they're doing something like this. The community needs something like empowerment in the community to lift their spirits. There's a lot going on in the world. This is a good thing,” Ratliff said.

The church plans to sponsor another gas giveaway as early as May or June. The owner of the Marathon says he would be happy to host again.