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Montco Man Sidesteps Personal Adversity To Continue Mission of Feeding Homeless

By Cherri Gregg

SOUDERTON, Pa. (CBS) -- A Souderton, Pa. man who has spent the last 25 years helping those in need is getting overwhelming support from around the world after nearly losing his own home following a debilitating illness.

Every Thursday, Cranford Coulter of The King's Jubilee spends the day in his kitchen preparing gallons of homemade soup.

"Quinoa and cracked barley with plantain," he described recently.

And every Thursday at 7pm, Coulter and his family and other volunteers drive an hour to center city Philadelphia, where they serve about 250 homeless and hungry people near 18th and Vine Streets, promptly at 8pm.

"They're lined up all the way back to the Galusha Pennypacker statue (a half-block away)," he noted one evening.

Coulter hasn't missed a Thursday, despite a painful spinal infection and the near foreclosure on his home.  The foreclosure was narrowly averted thanks to a "Gofundme" campaign gone viral.

The goal was to raise $15,000, but media reports and exposure on gofundme.com helped The King's Jubilee hit $46,000, with nearly 500 donations in just a few months.  And the pot is still growing.

"It was just crazy, and it kept on coming in in letters and cards," Coulter tells KYW Newsradio.

He is now current on his mortgage and has helped others "pay it forward."   He'll be on the edge of Logan Circle tonight, as always, helping to feed those in need.

For more on The King's Jubilee and the group's many programs, or to donate, go to thekingsjubilee.org.

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