Hosea Feed the Hungry to Hold Annual Christmas Dinner
Hosea Feed the Hungry will hold its 44th annual Christmas dinner at the Georgia World Congress Center on Christmas Day.
Hear the audio version of this story.
Hosea Feed the Hungry was founded by the late Civil Rights leader, Hosea Williams. His son-in-law, Afemo Omilami, is the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. Omilami expects to feed about 10,000 people on Wednesday.
“Our focus is on the children, making sure those children have Christmas presents, food, new clothes, and tennis shoes, everything we can give them, haircuts, entertainment, to make them have a wonderful Christmas,” Omilami says.
About 1600 volunteers will work the event. Omilami says some will start cooking Tuesday.
“I let them delegate the authority,” he says. “They all have their departments. They run this thing like an army going onto the battlefield.”
Omilami says in the past, Hosea Feed the Hungry has been a target for critics who say offering free meals doesn’t address the issue of poverty. Omilami says the organization offers a wide range of services.
“We’re not trying to enable people to stay poor and in need,” he explains. “We just don’t want our children, the next generation, to be lost in a system they can easily get swallowed up in if you don’t get the proper help you need.”
Throughout the year, the organization also offers employment resources and housing assistance.
Hosea Feed the Hungry is still accepting donations of clothes and toys. Mealtime is 10:00 Wednesday morning.
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