Palatine church delivers good news with gas giveaway

A Palatine church will offer $25 of free gasoline to every driver who pulls into a Dundee Road gas station early Saturday afternoon.

Good News in the Neighborhood, a non-denominational church, will host its second annual gas giveaway from noon to 2 p.m. at the Mobil station at 1228 E. Dundee Road, Palatine.

Drivers need not attend the church, share its beliefs or hold a particular political view to participate, said Pastor Luke MacDonald.

“This is a hard season for a lot of working families, and we wanted to do something simple and concrete to help,” he said. “Twenty-five dollars of gas isn't going to change the world, but it might make someone's week a little easier, and for us that's reason enough.”

The church held its first gas giveaway last year at a different Palatine station, drawing more than 150 cars over two hours.

Kristian Murray, the church's outreach ministry director, said volunteers will pump gas and greet people. They will also have a soft-serve ice cream truck on site.

Murray said the money spent by the church will come from tithes and offerings. She said roughly 30% of the church’s budget is spent on outreach.

Good News in the Neighborhood, at 312 E. Wood St. in Palatine, focuses on outreach. It also runs a home ownership assistance program. Participants who rent a church-owned apartment and pay on time for two years receive $24,000 toward a home purchase.

The church was founded in 2021. MacDonald previously worked for 14 years at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, the megachurch founded by his father, James S. MacDonald. He resigned in 2019, one week after his father was fired as senior pastor amid allegations of financial mismanagement and personal misconduct.

Asked about his time at Harvest, Luke MacDonald said: “I loved that church and all my years serving there, and in this new season I'm doing my best to carry on all the lessons that I've learned and things that I believe in a new and fresh way for the community I love.”