It is a Thanksgiving Day event that brings Atlantans together like no other.
It is the annual Hosea Helps event at the Georgia World Congress Center, a downtown holiday tradition that is 48-years strong. The event, first started by civil rights pioneer Hosea Alexander, is a way to allow the community to feed and give service to community's less fortunate.
And Thursday, the event lived up to its promise as hundreds of volunteers from throughout the metro area gathered to provide food to homeless and needy people. Event organizers expected to serve as many as 8,000 people.
The dinner menu offered all the traditional Thanksgiving fare--turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and a variety of vegetables. Diners were also offered access to showers, free clothing, beauty, barber and medical care at no charge.
Hosea Helps' organizer Elizabeth Omilami, Hosea's daughter, said the meaning of the day is close to her heart, "because without the grace of God, I could be out on those streets. I've been homeless before."
For volunteers like Naaz Malek, this is a fitting way to make his hometown a better place to be.
"These are my people. This is my community. So, it means everything for me to come here and do this for them," Malek said.
For Hosea Helps' work is year-round. It's next event to help the homeless will be on Christmas.
