New Life Church gave 300 single moms a little something to be thankful for on Nov. 23 — $20 work of gas.

“People are trying to see their families and paying for it can be hard,” said Brandi Dorsett, pastor of New Life’s Maple Valley-Covington Campus. “We thought, ‘What a great idea.’ An extra $20 goes a long way to a single mom. It’s letting them know we care in the community. It’s kind of hard on the holidays (not to have enough gas).”

From 2-5 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving volunteers from the church stood next to the Safeway gas station at Four Corners in Maple Valley and helped single mothers fill up their gas while cleaning their windows.

The idea came after the church held a food drive for the Renton and Maple Valley Food Banks. In addition to donating 25,000 pounds of food, they received monetary donations from the community.

According to Troy Jones, the head pastor of New Life Church, they felt the only proper thing to do with the money was to give it back to others who did not have enough.

“We want to be a group that is serving the community,” Jones said. “Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. How can we be that to the world? Put some gas in their cars. We’ve been focusing on living a life of compassion. It’s been a focus of our church for the last season.”

For some single mothers, it was the only way they could afford to drive to see relatives, according to Jones.

“I’ve had single moms coming up to me in tears,” he said.

Through their partnership with Vine Maple Place, the church was able to have them alert single mothers of the event.

“They have been an amazing nonprofit,” Jones said. “It’s a great partnership. They have the resources. We have the manpower.”

New Life Church is located at 27405 216th Ave. SE Maple Valley.