Thousands of homeless get holiday meal

<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>About 1,200 volunteers signed up to dish out the food, and an additional 300 others showed up Thursday morning to help out.</p><p>I had such a good year _ I wanted to give back, said first-time volunteer Rae Griner. I was really blessed this year, and I just thought it would be a good thing to bless other people.</p><p>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.</p><p>The dinner is named after civil rights activist Hosea Williams, who died of cancer in 2000.</p><p>Everyone was fed, no one went unfed, said Elisabeth Omilami, who took over the project when her father died. It was a full 7-course meal.</p><p>Organizers of the dinner struggled this year to feed, clothe and care for those needing it because donations were down about 35 percent this year, Omilami said.</p><p>Omilami said companies have been cutting back on their contributions of canned goods and supplies because their budgets have been cut.</p><p>She said she was worried that there might not be enough resources to go through with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day feeding of the homeless at Turner Field.</p><p>In Augusta, Santa arrived at the Medical College of Georgia to bring some holiday cheer to the children who were in the hospital for Christmas.</p><p>He delivered stuffed animals and stockings to 65 children and babies on four floors. After he was through, he said hed head back to the North Pole for a long winters nap. The gifts came from two wagons of presents the Medical Center staff had gathered for him.</p><p>Santa told the children he gave Rudolph the reindeer the day off after working all night.</p><p>And without Rudolph, sometimes I cant find my way around the world, said Santa, as he flew up to the fourth floor on the elevator.</p><p>In middle Georgia, members of the Macon Rescue Mission delivered Christmas dinners to the elderly and disabled.</p><p>(This meal) is going to mean a lot for me, and I sure appreciate it, said 65-year-old Viola Smith.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2864cb0)</p>

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