Volunteers help serve homeless before holidays

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Two dozen volunteers joined together to give donations to the homeless and those in need.

Near the overpass on West South Street, tents were set up to house the 150 guests who were served a hot meal, given hygiene kits, and Santa himself even was giving toys out to the children.

This is the 3rd annual Christmas under the Bridge, headed by Deanna Salisbury, who wanted to give back to her community during the cold, holiday season when many in our community go without.

Salisbury says that this event is never about the volunteers, rather the people they are serving. She hopes the patrons feel they are cared for and thought of as human beings in a place they feel safe and welcome.

The volunteers shared a hot meal that came from volunteers across Michiana who made the meals in their own homes. They gave out hygiene kits for anyone who needed one, and even had gifts for the kids who may have gone without this Christmas season.

Salisbury says she hopes this event reminds others in the community who have the ability to give, to do so. No matter what it is, Salisbury says, big or small, money or clothes or even time all are needed and welcomed.

Mom, Sara Masterson, who volunteered at the event with her son, says she hopes other families participate in volunteer activities together. Masterson says she made this a family event because she wanted to give her son perspective on how life is so different for some people and how that could be a reality for himself.

Masterson hopes that her son realizes how many people go without when he has so much and that he remembers to take time out for others in his life because giving back and helping even just one person, is worth it.