Thanksgiving Comes Early For Those Less Fortunate In Olney
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Several hundred people in the Olney section of Philadelphia celebrated Thanksgiving a little early.
Fraternity members from Kappa Alpha Psi helped serve pre-Thanksgiving meals to folks at Philippian Baptist Church Saturday.
"This is my second annual 'Feeding 1000' where we bring families together who may not otherwise have the opportunity to sit down and have a hot meal for Thanksgiving," State Representative Stephen Kinsey said.
Kinsey, an alumni of the fraternity, helped organize the event:
"I ran as a candidate last year, and as I was getting out throughout the community, folks were talking about some of the issues that the were experiencing and, actually, the lack of food and hunger was one of the primary concerns, of course with unemployment and some other issues as well," he explains.
Kinsey says in addition to the sit-down event, they also delivered about 200 meals:
"A lot of folks are families," he said. "We had a lot of individuals, especially older folks, that came in earlier, but there's a constant flow. Folks are bringing their children, so we're looking at it as a family meal."
And as Kinsey points out, there was a real community atmosphere:
"Folks are coming together having conversation and it's a great networking opportunity as well!"
Kinsey says approximately 600 meals were served over the course of the four-hour event.
