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Brisa Lewis eats a Thanksgiving meal that volunteers prepared at an event designed to help the homeless outside of the New Life Evangelistic Center on Locust Street in St. Louis on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. Lewis is an artist from Texas and is currently homeless. “Life is about passion,” Lewis said. “Sometimes you have to struggle to do what you love.” Locust St. from 14th St. to 15th St. was closed to host the event and approximately 300 people came to receive a thanksgiving meal, warm clothes, hygiene kits and other resources. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, cboone@post-dispatch.com
Volunteers scoop food into containers to give people a warm meal for Thanksgiving at an event designed to help the homeless outside of the New Life Evangelistic Center on Locust Street in St. Louis on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. Locust St. from 14th St. to 15th St. was closed to host the event and approximately 300 people came to receive a thanksgiving meal, warm clothes, hygiene kits and other resources. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, cboone@post-dispatch.com
People line up to receive a warm Thanksgiving meal at an event designed to help the homeless outside of the New Life Evangelistic Center on Locust Street in St. Louis on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. Locust St. from 14th St. to 15th St. was closed to host the event and approximately 300 people came to receive a thanksgiving meal, warm clothes, hygiene kits and other resources. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, cboone@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — Randy Allen, homeless for nearly a decade, said the coronavirus pandemic has made it harder to get food or find a place to shower this year.
“I can’t get no help. I can’t take a shower, I’m not eating good, I’m not sleeping good,” Allen, 38, said. Most recently he said he’s been sleeping in a parking garage.
City officials and volunteers for the homeless have said the pandemic presents difficulties in helping the homeless. Shelters have put in social distancing measures, and some who would regularly volunteer have held off this year because of health concerns.
But on Thanksgiving morning, Allen and hundreds of other unhoused people lined up in downtown St. Louis to receive a warm meal, courtesy of New Life Evangelistic Center. Locust Street between 14th and 15th streets was roped off, and people lined up, socially distanced, to receive a packaged meal of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, bread, green beans and mini pies. They were also given bus tickets and backpacks full of supplies such as hand sanitizer, warm socks, hats, gloves and a hygiene kit.
“I feel really blessed to get something to eat,” Allen said. “I didn’t know I’d get something today.”
New Life has held a Thanksgiving celebration for the homeless every year, and it isn’t the first year they’ve done it outdoors, because their downtown shelter was closed down in 2017. But this year, with coronavirus precautions in place, the process of getting permits was trickier than ever.
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