Gainesville's homeless, needy get a Christmas meal

UNDATED - Good News At Noon fed scores of Gainesville&#39;s homeless and needy a Christmas feast Thursday.<br> <br> It&#39;s an annual thing at Good News as is its traditional Thanksgiving feast. Good News also feeds those in need a daily meal, as well. <br> <br> In Atlanta, an estimated 22,000 homeless people got a fresh meal and shelter from the cold as volunteers fed them a fresh Christmas Day meal at Turner Field.<br> <br> The 33rd annual Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless Christmas dinner provided hot turkey, green beans, yam, sweet potato pie and other foods in a makeshift cafeteria to the thousands who sat elbow-to-elbow as they ate a warm meal.<br> <br> About 1,200 volunteers signed up to dish out the food, and an additional 300 others showed up this morning to help out.<br> <br> About 300 children from around the Atlanta area were bused in and 300 more showed up to receive a meal and toys contributed so they could have a Christmas.<br> <br> The dinner is named after civil rights activist Hosea Williams, who died of cancer in 2000.<br> <br> (The Associated Press contributed to this story.)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/12/166385