NYC Volunteers Lift Holiday Spirits, Prepare Meals For Those In Need
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Hundreds of volunteers gathered together at the Goddard Riverside Community Center on Christmas Day to cook meals for those in need.
As CBS2's Janet Wu reported, volunteers prepared meals for around 1,500 people -- making almost everything from scratch.
The Goddard Riverside Center, located on the Upper West Side, invited guests to share a family-style holiday meal on premises, complete with decorated tables and live music to brighten up the atmosphere.
"We want to make it like the holiday meal as if they were with a family," Anne Conroy, of the Goddard Riverside Center, said.
The crowd included people who have hit hard times, or struggle with health issues.
Louis Boone, 81, of the Bronx isn't homeless, but no longer has immediate family. He came to the center for company.
I had three brothers, and I had three sisters. They all passed. I'm the sole survivor," Boone said.
According to Joe Hallmark, of the Goddard Riverside Center, the dinner requires around 300 volunteers to pull off -- and no one looking for a meal is turned away.
"We all say we'd rather not have to do it. But, in as much as we have to, we get a great deal of pleasure from doing this," Stephen Lewis, a volunteer said.