What Church Feeds the Homeless Dinner on Thurs
Roughly nine months ago, a car drove into the front of the building on Cool Spring Street that served as the center for the nonprofit Seth's Wish.
Lindsey Wofford, the executive director and founder of the organization, said the city later condemned the building.
"It hurts my heart," said Wofford, who noted that Seth's Wish now operates largely from a spare room in her house. It serves as the pantry.
That's why on Thanksgiving Day, the 38-year-old Wofford and her boyfriend, Jamel Wilson, 39, were making the rounds in Fayetteville in a Jeep Patriot SUV to distribute plates of food to those down on their luck.
"I told you God is blessing us," Tamika Beck exclaimed aloud in the parking lot of the Travel Inn on Eastern Boulevard.
With Wofford standing by the Patriot's opened rear hatch liftgate, Wilson went door to door at the weathered motel to ask occupants if they wanted a Thanksgiving meal.
In the past, Seth's Wish had served an average of 1,000 people a month from the center. The organization has spent the past six years giving back to help Fayetteville's homeless population.
"A lot of places feed you. But they're scared of us," said Beck, 44, who has called the Travel Inn home for seven months.
"I love it. It's so scary because of the pandemic," she said of the love offering. "A lot of people are embarrassed. I'm very happy for what she's done. I didn't know people are hurting like they are."
The Styrofoam plates being distributed were filled with shredded turkey, stuffing, candied yams, green beans and a dinner roll. Bottles of water also were being handed out.
The couple from Seth's Wish started around 10 in the morning, first feeding the homeless hunkered down under the Russell Street bridge and those gathered outside the downtown Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum.
"Whenever we see someone walking along the way and we know them, we stop," Wofford said.
They planned to stop at other motels and hotels in the city where the homeless and destitute often stay for spells at a time. And they were going to keep going "until it was gone," she said.
Wofford was quick to point out that she and Wilson were merely giving out the food. Carl Pringle, who has helped her organization before, "coordinated a huge amount of food" for this holiday effort, she said.
They started the day with 100 boxes of food. Another group, We Are 1, also was driving around to hand out the food that Pringle provided.
"I love your skirt," Wofford said to a woman in a colorful garment who was approaching Wilson. He was reaching out to her with an offering of food.
"You want a couple of plates?" Wofford asked.
"Yes. I'll take two, darling," she replied with a smile on her face.
Wofford said they had decided to do this on Thanksgiving because she had missed seeing everybody at the center. "Not seeing them every day at the center — it sucks," she added.
Seth's Wish was founded more than six years ago, when Wofford's son, Seth, met a homeless man named Steve near his school in downtown Fayetteville. Seth saw an advertisement through his school that asked about wishes, and Seth's wish was to help Steve.
Seth is now 15, and what his mother called "a grown man."
It appeared that many of the churches and groups that served the homeless on-site on Thanksgiving in years past were not doing it, at least around noon Thursday. Some of them had served food earlier in the week.
Instead, it seemed that small groups — such as the one representing Seth's Wish — were out and about and searching for those who could use a good meal on a day that usually means a gathering of family members.
"I would say COVID had a huge impact on people not serving today," Wofford said. "I think we would have done it either way."
Before Wofford and Wilson headed out to another spot on Eastern Boulevard, Kainaza Carzo pulled into the center parking lot of the horseshoe-shaped inn with another 60 boxes of food placed in cardboard boxes.
Carzo, 20, was representing the partnership of Combined Unified Services and the Highland Presbyterian Church. She said the church had served food to the homeless and needy Tuesday and Wednesday, as well.
She was among one of about 10 groups from the partnership motoring around to distribute the prepared plates of turkey, dressing and sweet potato pie.
Pierre Johnson, 62, who has lived at the Travel Inn for about a month, said he was plenty grateful for what the young Carzo was doing. He stepped up to the back of her Chevrolet SUV for a couple of plates.
"This is a blessing in disguise," he said. As for the rest of the holiday, he planned to "relax and try to rest up."
As for Carzo, a community service specialist with Combined United Services, she enjoys this sort of outreach service.
"Because I've been doing it since I was 10 years old. Community service is a big part of our family," she said. "My mother says we should do it. I love to do it. It's fun. Especially meeting all the people."
Carzo poo-poohed the threat of the coronavirus in making her rounds. She was wearing a face mask the whole time.
"Can't let that stop you," she said. "You just gotta be safe. This is the time where we do best — serving the community."
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Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at mfutch@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3529.
Source: https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2020/11/26/small-groups-serve-thanksgiving-food-fayetteville-homeless/6433149002/
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