Gwinnett church feeds thousands of families

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — An annual tradition in Gwinnett County that feeds hundreds of families continues to grow.

An army of volunteers makes the Thanksgiving feed possible and organizers say the need is great.

"Jimmy Carter, Beaver Ruin, Indian Trail, Pleasant Hill, you're going to find approximately two to three thousand homeless people in the extended stays and some even in their cars in this area," said organizer Carolyn Maddox.
 
Maddox said many of the suburban homeless are families and children.

"The meal that they mainly get is from their schools each day. Some of them do not have an evening meal," she said.
 
Dozens of volunteers at the Campus Church in Norcross prepared a meal for hundreds of families, including Willisee Hylton's. Hlyton told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh it was a blessing.
 
"Organizations like this is really a blessing because we stay in a hotel  right now, so we don't have an oven," Hylton said.
 
Hylton says she wanted to share her family's story as a way of saying thank you. "To have somewhere to come and have Thanksgiving meal with my family and people is real nice."
 
"I grew up in Jamaica myself so I know what it's like not to have. So this is like a dream for me to come back and just to give back," said volunteer Yvonne Durrant.
 
Durrant says that's why she shares this experience volunteering every year with her sons.
 
"We can put a turkey on the table, but a lot of people can't do that," said Durrant.
 
Some of the food also helped people through Norcross Meals on Wheels. Football players from Meadowcreek High School came to pick up the meals and deliver them to 20 area families.
 

WSBTV