COLUMBIA, S.C. — St. Peter's Catholic Church on Assembly St. hosted their 34th Christmas Feast Christmas morning, feeding over 1,000 homeless and down-on-their-luck Columbia residents.
Hundreds showed up and wrapped around the building anticipating the hot meal that was waiting for them inside.
"God is good. He makes a way," says Omar Lewis as he waits in line.
Robert Keeder is the volunteer organizer for this event and is excited to serve the community for another year. "We've been asked to do this by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. How I got involved, I was praying one day coming into Columbia from my home in West Columbia and it was cold and damp. I saw these people kind of walking around the city with destination no where and I got in the church and I prayed about it. It affected me so much that anybody is going to be alone on Christmas morning. So I prayed about it. I talked to our priest about a month later to tell him I wanted to do something bigger and better here at St. Peter's as far as the Christmas dinner and so he said we would have his support... and the rest is history."
"I think its a wonderful thing they do for the community," Archie McIver told News19 over his meal. "The homeless, we have no where to go. This is our only chance to have a good meal today so that's why we're here."
"This is my first time, and I hope that next time I'll be able to contribute to the cause," Omar Lewis shares. "Everybody needs somebody. Always remember that."
Hundreds of volunteers assisted in the festivities which included giving bags full of winter gear and Target gift cards for the children.
"Merry Christmas to everybody and continue to pray for our efforts, our work here at St. Peter's," Keeder says. "We've been doing it for a long long time and we enjoy doing it and hopefully we can continue doing it for many many more years."