Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘It’s always a blessing’
Homeless gather for Christmas Eve meal at Fort Lauderdale church
The giving felt as good as the receiving as church volunteers served a hot Christmas Eve meal to those without homes who had lined up hungry and thankful for the kindness and the food.
Such was the scene late Monday afternoon at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church near downtown in the northwest corner of Fort Lauderdale.
“It’s just a great way for the community to come together and love on those who live on the streets of South Florida,” said Pery Canan, HOPE South Florida’s director of Shared Meals.
Todd Green was feeling the love, and really appreciating it.
“Thank God for these churches,” he said. “They give us that unconditional love. No matter how down we are or how bad we screw up, they welcome us back with open arms.”
Green, 54, originally from Indiana, has been in Broward County about four years. He came by way of Naples where he spent 15 years. He was homeless there, too.
“I’ve got a bad alcohol problem and that’s kept me down,” he said.
But on Monday, with a month of sobriety under his belt, Green was looking hopeful, bright-eyed and optimistic.
And he loved every part of the meal. The ham, the hashbrowns, cheesy broccoli, peach cobbler, the lemonade, “all of it,” he said, the cinnamon rolls and frosted cupcakes, too.
“I’m ready for a nap now,” Green said. “Can’t do that until dark.”
A free hot dinner is served every Monday at the Fort Lauderdale church, usually at 6 p.m. For the holiday, it was bumped up to 3 p.m
About 120 came to eat on Christmas Eve. Dinner was provided, like every Monday, by First Church Coral Springs, a United Methodist congregation.
“I just enjoy giving to the people and helping them feel good,” said 92-year-old volunteer, Thelma Johnston, of Wilton Manors. “And it makes me feel good.”
Several diners were reluctant to be quoted by a reporter.
“Nah, I don’t want to be in the newspaper,” one man said.
Dinner was “real good” though, he added. “The potatoes were unbelievable, au gratin.”
Greg King, 65, of Lauderhill, has been volunteering for four years now. It’s the way he was taught by his grandfather, he said.
“We were always told to give something back and this is my way of giving something back.”
Tracy Moore, 34, is a regular attendee of the Monday night meals.
“It’s always a blessing,” he said. Moore grew up in Broward County, “Lauderdale mainly.” His
mother lives near Davie Boulevard and 441, he said, but he won’t be celebrating the holiday there.
“Her boyfriend, husband, however you want to consider him, I can’t stand him. So, no,” he said.
Alcohol is the problem over there, he said. Whenever it’s involved, “there’s always a problem.”
He gave up on holidays years ago, Moore said. “It’s just another day in a way.”
Moore usually works in kitchens, washing dishes or as a prep cook. But things fell apart when his roommate started using cocaine, he said.
“I ended up leaving,” Moore said. “I would rather be outside, basically, than be around a bunch of drugs.”
Despite the grim details, Moore has a smile that beams.
“I try,” he said. On Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m., a free Christmas Day meal will be donated and distributed by the local Jewish community, said Canan, the director of the shared meals program.
That will be at Vision of Hope Family Worship Center, 1100 N. Andrews Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.