TARBORO — A Tarboro church that opened its doors to flood victims after Hurricane Floyd welcomed them back on Saturday.

Members of the First Pentecostal Church cooked up Thanksgiving dinner for flood victims, including Lendora Hart, who lost her home.

"It was heartbreaking," Hart said. "Being out of your home, and not having anything. Everything was gone."

The church provided shelter for dozens of families who lost their homes. Volunteers are decorating and donating miniature Christmas trees to brighten temporary housing.

Church members like Jean Kaiser wanted to help those families through what could be a difficult holiday.

"You see, just in my personal experience, in seeing grown men tear up at the mention of Christmas because there is so many people who do not have what they normally have," Kaiser said.

Church members also boxed up packages of holiday food for flood victims and handed out presents to the children.

Another church member, Janice Harris, said, "I think the children will look back on this in years to come, and say somebody did care about us at that time."

Flood victims say the volunteers make them feel they still have reason to be grateful.

"I'm not going to worry about it, because those things are worldly things, and I'm putting that behind me because God's going to make a way for us," Hart said.