In the three years of owning her Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, Crystal Hinton of Northeast Washington has never filled her gas tank completely. It costs $40, she said, just for a half a tank.
Meanwhile, Frances Brooks of Southeast Washington said the red indicator on her gas tank was “below E” on her Kia.
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Hinton and Brooks were among hundreds of drivers who pulled into the BP gas station at the corner of 4th Street and Rhode Island Avenue on Saturday for a $20 gas giveaway sponsored by the filling station’s longtime neighbor, Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church.
“Look what the Lord has done through his temple,” Brooks said, smiling, as one of the masked and plastic-gloved Calvary members pumped her gas. Hinton, who saw the church volunteers holding signs for “free gas,” steered her SUV into the lane of other waiting vehicles. “This is such a blessing,” she said.
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For three hours Saturday, drivers pulled into the BP station as D.J. Soul 73 spun various gospel remixes and Go-Go tunes from his oversize speakers.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began last year, various local churches have hosted giveaways to provide help for residents. In recent months, Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Md., gave out thousands of $50 gift cards to residents and church members. First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, Md., provided grocery giveaways, and City of Light in Silver Spring, Md., hosted food and grocery store card giveaways.
But Calvary leaders said they wanted to do something different. They came up with the “Gas on God” theme.
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“Yes, giving grocery store cards is needed and is a blessing. But there are people who don’t have enough gas to even get to the store to use those cards, or get to work, or even drive to take their children to child care providers,” said Kristel Woodhouse, Calvary’s executive pastor who oversaw the event.
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Woodhouse’s mother, Calvary’s co-pastor Susie C. Owens, was in one of the dozens of cars briefly in a traffic jam that extended more than six blocks as six D.C. police officers tried to keep the traffic flowing. The 400 block of Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast — where the station is located — is normally two lanes heading west. But the lane closest to the sidewalk gradually came to a halt as drivers waited to turn into the BP station.
“I hear they’re giving away gas,” Owens said with a boisterous laugh after she exited the passenger side of her car. Owens said the giveaway was pegged to the church’s annual Thanksgiving-themed offers of clothes, food and other items. “This was a different way of being a blessing to the people this year,” she said.
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Calvary is one of the largest, predominantly Black churches in the nation’s capital after many other large, Black churches relocated to Maryland.
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Woodhouse said the church budgeted to spend about $3,000 on gas purchases. That projection was good news to Danny Amenu, the BP assistant manager. Amenu said sales at his gas station had declined in recent years as a string of condominiums were being built on the block, making it difficult for drivers to maneuver around construction equipment. Amenu also said gas prices, most recently at $3.59 a gallon for regular unleaded at his station — about a $1 a gallon higher from a year ago — have also led to a decline in demand.
Amenu said the gas giveaway “couldn’t have come at a better time” for his station.
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Like a factory assembly line, Amenu punched in each pump number on the machine in front of him as the church’s gold American Express business card was reinserted for each customer after a church volunteer shouted out the pump number. Amenu then grabbed each receipt from the register and placed it in the Black and Mild cigar box next to him. Within two hours, the box was overflowing with receipts.
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Twice, however, the gas giveaway came to a brief halt. Despite Woodhouse earlier that morning alerting American Express of the planned excessive usage on the church charge card, the company’s fraud department abruptly stopped charges. Woodhouse then pulled out a second charge card and handed it to Amenu while she spoke with the fraud department to okay the purchases. An hour later, American Express again stopped the charges, forcing Woodhouse to make another call.
Some Calvary staffers did more than pump gas. Tamar Shaw, wearing a purple sash around her neck, walked up to drivers and asked whether they needed prayer. She said four drivers prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted Jesus as their savior.
“The free gas got them here. But this is still ministry,” Shaw said.