Christmas feast at St. Peter’s eases hard times for local folks

On they came on Christmas Day, the down and out, the homeless and sort of homeless, to St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Assembly Street.

They snaked in a long line down Taylor Street. Some clutched babies, leaned on canes or rode in wheelchairs. Some were victims of the early October floods and others Mexican immigrants speaking halting English.

All were hungry. The meal was waiting.

“We had 850 people this year – the most ever,” said Robert Keeder, 70, who’s been orchestrating the free Christmas Day feast for 30 years. “That first year, we fed 238.”

Among Friday’s guests were Andrew, 42, and Laura, 32, a couple who didn’t want to give their last names.

“I lost my business. I used to have an electronic repair shop, and I had back surgery – for eight years, I’ve been out here on on the street,” said Andrew. “This feels like family, to be out here with my homeless brothers and sisters. I feel blessed that they do this.”

Ruth Williams, 59, standing in line with her three grandchildren — Niyah, 10, Mia, 7 and Jordan, 5 — said they are living with friends after their Eau Claire area home was flooded and became infested with mold.

“The flood took us,” she said. “We’re trying to get back on our feet. I’m trying to get work but it’s hard when you’re 59 – harder than when you’re 23.”

Another man in line, who identified himself as Stephen Mims, 60, said he sometimes sleeps outside and other times sleeps in an abandoned house. “I’ve been here on Christmas for 11 years. A year ago, my wife got killed, run over. But life goes on; you have to deal with it. God’s going to help me.”

More than 150 volunteers turned up to help with the myriad details, including setting out 60 donated poinsettias on the dozens off tables where people ate.

The most senior volunteer was Sara Davis, 86, who was serving sweet tea. Among the youngest was Morgan Jeffcoat, 16, a junior at White Knoll High School. She dished out green beans and a smile.

As volunteer Daniel Barutta, 58, stood in the hall, the guests passed by him, saying things like “God bless you and thank you.”

“It’s great to see people really happy,” said Barutta, an Americorps worker deployed to help FEMA with flood relief in Columbia. “It’s a great feeling to be here. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas – giving the gift of baby Jesus to people who really need it.”

Another volunteer, Kevin Werner, 53, a Columbia paralegal in his 20th year of helping out at St. Peter’s on Christmas, said, “This is the Christ-like thing to do on Christmas. Help poeple who are less fortunate. You don’t need a skill level to do this. As long as it’s in your heart, you can do something here.”

One group of volunteers was made up of Fulton Gasper, an eye doctor; his daughter, Cate Gasper, a medical student; and optician Neal Higgins. They had brought some 300 new pairs of reading glasses, donated by Palmetto Optical Laboratories, at 15 different strengths to give out to those who needed them.

“Usually, you are going to need reading glasses when you are in your early 40s. A lot of people who come through here are in that age group,” Fulton Gasper, 59, said. “This is our 12th year doing this. We feel like it’s a nice thing to do, to give back and – it’s Christmas.”

The meal was standard American Yule feast – ham, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, tossed salad and iced tea. Desserts — all homemade and donated — were assorted cupcakes, brownies and apple and pumpkin pie.

Although St. Peter’s Catholic Church hosts the annual event, the affair draws volunteers from around the community, said Keeder, a St. Peter’s member who is active in the church’s St. Vincent De Paul Society, an outreach to the homeless and hungry.

Planning started months ago. But the real work got underway Christmas Eve, when the food prep volunteers deboned some 50 turkeys and sliced up an equal number of hams. What was not eaten will be frozen and served at another community meal in January.

It costs more than $35,000 to stage the meal and obtain the contents of the gift bags given out at the end of meal: socks, a wool stocking hat, long underwear, hooded sweatshirt and assorted toiletries including toothpaste and deoderant. Much of that money is raised from individuals, but SCANA also kicked in “a substantial amount,” said Keeder, who declined to give a number.

Keeder also hands out 100 Target gift cards worth $25 each, courtesy of $2,500 from an anonymous donor.

Keeder, a semi-retired health care worker, said the reason he leads the outreach efforts for the homeless and hungry is because he was brought up by the Catholic priest Father Flanagan and his staff at Boy’s Town in Omaha.

“The fathers and nuns instilled in me a sense that if I ever got in a situation where I could give back, I would do it,” said Keeder, an orphan himself.

Although Rev. Gary Linski of St. Peter’s gave a blessing before the meal got started, some had their own blessing.

“I said, ‘Thank you, Lord, for the meal, and thank you, Lord, for another day,” said Thomas Stewart, 60, who characterized himself as a semi-homeless, unemployed construction worker who is hanging on until he is 62 and can start drawing Social Security.

After he had eaten, he went to collect his gift bag. Stewart said he had a mission.

“I’m going to take what they give me and go out and give it to other people. I’m not going to keep it,” he said. “I’m going to share it with the people that need it.”