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Volunteers Spend Christmas Eve Feeding The Sick

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - Hundreds of volunteers gave up part of their Christmas Eve to feed residents in the New York City area who are too sick to help themselves.

WCBS 880's Monica Miller On The Story

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Angel Levy gave up her last-minute holiday shopping for a hairnet. She joined over 800 of God's Love We Deliver volunteers to pack a winter feast, which includes chowder, a roasted hen with stuffing, and gingerbread cake.

"This is all that these people are going to see of people giving them for the holidays," she said.

The organization's president, Karen Pearl, says they started delivering meals to HIV and AIDS patients in the 1980s.

But today, it feeds patients with all kinds of serious illnesses, like cancer and Parkinson's Disease.

"Today, we'll be doing over 3,000 meals for people who are at home by themselves and alone," Pearl told WCBS 880 reporter Monica Miller. "We really want people to celebrate, even if they're home and they're sick because it's a time to be with family, be with friends, and we try to make that easy for people."

Emily Suskind is home from college and says there is something gratifying about providing a basic need that everyone enjoys.

"It's food. It's something very basic. Food is healing for these people," she said.

Pearl says they serve more than one million meals annually to the five boroughs and parts of New Jersey.

If you want to help the organization, visit their website.

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