Christmas dinner came in a box complete with a turkey and all the fixings for 1,500 needy families in Stockton today.
Some people camped out since Friday so they wouldn't miss out on the food giveaway.
A warm greeting and a Christmas dinner were given to people who lined up and down the street and around the block at the Stockton Emergency Food Bank.
Times are hard for Linda Ownby and the last time she checked her cupboard all she had was beans and cornbread.
“I’m disabled, I have real bad seizures, my boys are both unemployed, we just have to do what we can do,” says Ownby.
Jerome Brooks is getting by but barely.
“It’s hard for everybody nowadays, economy got to get a little bit better,” says Brooks.
Food Bank Director Mike Donaghy says no one goes home empty handed.
“You got to realize anybody willing to come down here and stand in line, you know, 30 degrees, cold, colder than heck, they’re down here because they need to be,” says Donaghy.
People like Kathie Trees braved the freezing temperatures to feed 6 at her table.
“And I have arthritis so I get cold all the time.
Still worth it, standing in line? For me it is, yeah,” says Trees.
One hundred volunteers from realtors to church groups helped with the food giveaway.
Among them was McNair High School Student Cynthia Fakoury who gained a new perspective on food and those who go hungry.
“A lot of kids, I didn’t know they didn’t have food. So, in the spirit of giving, one of life’s most basic needs is fulfilled. It’s their Christmas wish come true," says Fakoury.
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