TOLEDO -- A crowd of close to 300 hundred people filled the St. Paul's Community Center in downtown Toledo on Christmas Eve. They came for a hot dinner and a bag of gifts delivered by Santa himself. Executive Director Marcia Langenderfer says people starting asking her in September if the center would have a Christmas Eve dinner. "For these folks it's a choice between food on the table or a roof over my head so it means a lot to them," Mrs. Langenderfer said. Toledo resident Mischell Montgomery ran into some old friends that she had not seen in awhile. "It's wonderful to be here, I almost didn't come but I did and I am so glad that I came because it is so wonderful," Ms. Montgomery said.
Donations allowed for the center to provide the dinner as well as for Christmas gifts that were given to people as they left.
On Christmas Day the Toledo Gospel Rescue Mission will be providing a free breakfast from 7:30 a.m to 9:30 a.m. The location is 1917 Jefferson Avenue. The Cherry Street Mission will serve lunch from noon to 1 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. The location is 1919 Madison Avenue. The day after Christmas Helping Hands of St. Louis will serve dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. at 443 6th Street in east Toledo.
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