Hundreds of Christmas meals handed out in Gonzales

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - People in Ascension Parish were able to grab a free meal Christmas day. Amy Shamburger hosted a community Christmas dinner for those who didn’t have a place to celebrate. This is her eighth year doing it.

Shamburger says it started with just her and her friends making some food and inviting people to eat with them.

Now-- they’re handing out more than 400 meals. Shamburger looks forward to seeing everyone each year and making sure people like Gerard Berry aren’t alone

“It’s important that we’re all sharing a meal together and visiting and just getting to know each other and letting people know they’re not alone because this time of year can be really hard,” said Shamburger.

“This is a blessing to us. It makes us feel like we are a part of something you know. I don’t have any family, but this place makes me feel like I do have a family on Christmas,” said Berry.

People could also grab some toys, clothes and canned goods while they were there.

Shamburger is planning to host more community dinners throughout the year instead of just on Christmas.

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