MIAMI (WSVN) - Camillus House in Miami kept a heartwarming Christmas Day tradition alive: its annual holiday brunch.
7News cameras captured hundreds of diners eating hearty brunch fare like chicken and waffles, Tuesday morning.
Camillus House CEO Hilda Fernandez said they’re compelled to help make the holiday more special for South Florida’s homeless.
“It is an opportunity for us to provide homeless people the experience of what is a very special day that you spend usually with family,” she said.
Hundreds packed Camillus House’s cafeteria. Volunteers and cooks in the kitchen dishing out potatoes as well as waffles with fried chicken and eggs.
But most importantly, Camillus House is serving up hope.
“I’m very appreciative of it because now I’m going to be able to get to spend time with my family and everything like that, you know?” said diner Felipe Hernandez. “Here, I’m within family.”
The mood was festive. Music played in the background, and the dining hall was filled with Christmas decorations.
Tables were filled with hot plates and warm smiles on faces that have seen so much struggle.
“It’s very uplifting, ’cause there’s so much people in the streets right now that have nothing to eat,” said Hernandez, “and being able to see most of them I see every day in the street, the Camillus House allows them inside and gives them food and whatnot.”
Organizers said the event would be impossible to hold without the volunteers. South Floridians left their families Christmas morning and put their gifts aside to spend the day helping others.
“The holidays have always been about giving back,” said volunteer Gabe Jimenez, “so I definitely think that giving back to the community is one of the top priorities of the holiday.”
It took 50 volunteers to ensure everything ran smoothly at this event that took months to plan.
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