PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – The Union Gospel Mission (UGM) in Old Town offered 350 free meals on Christmas Day for community members in need.
Volunteers said it felt good to spread the Christmas spirit and to come together as a community.
“It’s better than any Christmas present, I think,” said Maryanne Bletscher, who has volunteered with UGM for over 25 years.
Bletscher said volunteering on Christmas Day was about more than just handing out free meals to those in need. It was about seeing the community come together.
“I think a lot of folks who are houseless or just don’t have the resources that some of us do, want to be recognized as a person…,” said Bletscher.
By 10:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, there was a line out the door at UGM. Meal guests said the sense of togetherness and the holiday cheer was a welcome feeling.
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“It’s very nice to feel appreciated or cared about and just to sit down and have a meal with somebody,” said Alicia Loy Steiner.
Guests like Loy Steiner said fresh, hot meals can be hard to come by when you’re experiencing homelessness. She mentioned that every person living on the street has a unique story and she wants to help break the stigma surrounding homelessness.
“Life happens, you know?” she said. “Sometimes it’s nice to sit down with people and be able to conversate and figure out strategies to fix that,”
This holiday season, both meal guests and volunteers said everyone can benefit from a little kindness and hope others feel inspired to help their neighbors in need.
“I feel we can we can break that [stigma] by the community doing things like this and gathering just being nice to each other,” said Loy Steiner.
“Merry Christmas and do something good for others,” Bletscher said.
UGM began its special Christmas meal celebrations on Saturday by providing 600 Christmas food baskets for families in need. On Sunday, UGM continued providing special holiday meals on their Search + Rescue mobile outreach. In all, UGM provided more than 3,800 special Christmas meals for those in need or experiencing homelessness, concluding with the sit-down meal on Christmas Day.
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