(October 28, 2017) LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Houston Pastor Develron Walker seemingly does it all. As the leader of Towers of Hope Church of God in Christ, he shuttles churchgoers to services, drives neighborhood children to school and distributes food and necessities to people in need.

But it’s been extremely difficult for Walker to keep up this community service ever since Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in August. His church was badly damaged and is still unusable. His full-size SUV was also destroyed.

Compounding these setbacks, Walker said the church was denied both government assistance and a small business loan — though that hasn’t stopped him and his congregation from helping 200 families following the storm.

To help Walker and his community recover from Hurricane Harvey, Ford on Friday surprised him with an all-new Ford Expedition to help with his recovery efforts.

Ford was celebrating the production of the all-new bigger, lighter and more capable full-size Ford Expedition at Kentucky Truck Plant and asked Pastor Walker to participate. The pastor thought he was there to share his story with plant employees about how he and his community were affected by the hurricane, so people would know how they could help.

“Even while facing extremely tough circumstances, Pastor Walker has shown his relentless commitment to helping those in his community, and we hope the Expedition will help him go further with his ministry as they rebuild,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president, Global Operations, who presented the pastor with his new vehicle.

Pastor Walker toured Kentucky Truck Plant as part of the day’s celebration. Ford recently invested $900 million in the plant for upgrades to build the all-new Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, securing 1,000 hourly U.S. jobs.

Ford chose the Expedition for Walker because it will allow him to get back to helping his community. The SUV has seating for up to eight or, with the press of two buttons to fold the second and third rows, enough cargo room to hold 4x8-foot sheets of plywood — ideal for the church’s rebuilding effort.