HAMPTON, Va. — Monday is Christmas Day, and if you need somewhere to go to get a hot meal or presents for your children, the Do Gooders of Hampton Roads have you covered.
Their annual holiday feast is Monday morning, and everyone is invited! If you want to help, they’re still accepting some last-minute donations to make it happen.
“This year we want to serve 500 people," the group's president Whalen McDew said. “This is for the community, and when I say community, I mean everybody. We’ve got people that come from Virginia Beach; we have people coming from Newport News; we have people coming from Williamsburg. Everybody just shows up.”
It’s a holiday tradition now nine years in the making. On Christmas morning, volunteers will come together at Hampton’s Boys and Girls Club on Shell Road to serve free holiday meals to anyone who needs one.
This will be the 9th Annual Christmas Feeding. Volunteers will also give away free toys to children and free clothing for anyone who needs it.
McDew said it’s about giving back to people in the community who may not have anywhere to go for a hot meal, or who might not have the resources to get their children’s holiday gifts.
“We’re getting the toys and the clothes, and the shoes sorted," he said. "We have the food going on in the back, making sure we have all the items ready.”
Volunteers spent all weekend gearing up for the big event and on Christmas morning, volunteers will come together again to serve the community they live in. Right now, they’re still looking for volunteers and a few last-minute donations to make it happen.
"We are still in need of some food items specifically – block cheeses, mild cheeses, gravies, things of that nature," he said. "Anything that you want to donate to help us out, we’ll definitely appreciate it.”
And if you need a little help this holiday, all you have to do is show up.
“There’s no list involved. Anyone that shows up will be served and helped," McDew explained. "That’s the beauty of all of this: We never know who’s going to show up, we just hope that they do.”
The event is happening Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hampton’s Boys & Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula on Shell Road.
You can donate money online to help the event happen or sign up online to volunteer or bring items. McDew said you can drop off donations on Christmas Eve morning at the Boys and Girls Club.