From ‘destination nowhere,’ Columbia’s homeless find refuge at St. Peter’s on Christmas
Lentrell Myers wants to be an entrepreneur when he grows up.
But, for now, the A.J. Lewis Greenview Elementary third-grader is happy answering a higher calling outside the banquet hall of St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Christmas Day.
“I wanted to give to the less fortunate kids and help them have fun, so they can have fun and play,” said 9-year-old Lentrell, who helped children Tuesday pick out Christmas gifts he bought or were donated to him.
“I want to help the world and spread the love with everybody in the world.”
St. Peter’s was a place of refuge for Columbia’s homeless Tuesday, offering a warm meal of turkey, ham and sides — complete with dessert — at its 33rd annual feast, which, in its first year, served less than 300 people.
Now, the church serves between 900 to 1,000 people on Christmas each year, said Robert Keeder, the program’s longtime coordinator.
Thirty-three years ago, “I noticed all over town ... people just walking around, looked like, to me at the time, (headed toward) destination nowhere,” Keeder said. “Thirty-three years ago, there was a problem here in Columbia as far as feeding the less fortunate and deprived on Christmas Day. We, as a church, found it totally unacceptable.”
As long as Keeder is around, he said, “it’ll be Christmas at St. Peter’s.”
That was a comforting reminder to people who sought out St. Peter’s on Tuesday for a meal, which included Quintine Hammonds, 30, who said he recently became homeless.
“I want to get off the streets and get a better job,” said Hammonds, who showed his palms worn from working with concrete. “I have a son. I love my son.”
Henry Boykin, 69, said Tuesday was the second time he had joined St. Peter’s on Christmas. Previously homeless, Boykin said he now lives in an assisted-living facility. He likes the sense of gathering at the church, said Boykin, whose wife of 41 years died in 2010.
“They don’t have to do this,” Boykin said, referring to the church and about 80 volunteers who served food. “They don’t have to do this, but God put it in their hearts to.”
This story was originally published December 25, 2018 at 3:19 PM.
