Father Joe’s Villages served Christmas Eve meals to San Diego’s homeless and other hungry community members.
About 1,500 guests ate roasted ham, sweet potatoes, green peas, bread rolls and more for lunch, and another thousand were expected to have prime rib for dinner. Dozens of volunteers helped cook and serve the food.
“Because it’s Christmas, we’re actually hand-serving them rather than cafeteria-style, to make it a little more special,” said volunteer Susan Croll.
Deacon Jim Vargas, president of Father Joe’s Villages, said the facility offers meals to the homeless and hungry on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day because there are fewer organizations hosting such events prior to the main holiday.
“Hopefully, they’ll feel loved,” Vargas said of the guests.
The facility served anyone who came through the door. Antonio Disney, a self-described homeless man, said he wouldn’t have had anywhere else to eat on Christmas Eve if it weren’t for Father Joe’s Villages.
“I feel welcome here. I feel like I’m at home, with people who are just like me,” he said. “They don’t care what I look like, they don’t care what I’m wearing, they don’t care where I come from.”
Another guest was 79-year-old Lillie Davis, who wore a brown hat adorned with hawk’s feathers that a stranger had given her on the street.
“One of my sayings is, ‘blessed by the best,’” she said. “That’s the way I feel.”
Davis said she loved the food at Father Joe’s Villages and thought the service was great.
“If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t be in this atmosphere at all,” she said, tearing up.
