MC Welcomes Homeless Families for Christmas Dinner
For nearly two dozen guests from the Wingard Home in Jackson it was a wonderful Tuesday evening in mid-December on the Clinton campus.
Welcoming the visitors, MC graphic arts coordinator Michael Hataway read passages from the Bible telling the story of the birth of Jesus.
The Dec. 15 event marked the fourth year in a row the MC Art Department and students from the Kappa Pi art honorary hosted the guests from the Jackson ministry on North West Street.
Employees with Sodexo also made the evening gathering possible. The company that cooks and serves meals at the campus cafeteria, provided the salad, iced tea, dessert, veggies and the main course of chicken cordon bleu.
MC students Robert Gatewood of Clinton, and Kyle Hancock of Macon, Art Department Chairman Randy Miley, Hataway and others wore formal attire as they pitched in to serve the meal.
The Wingard Home has opened its doors to minister to the homeless and needy of Jackson since 1990. Led by Revs. Roy Wingard and Charlotte Wingard, the ministry has helped "tons of lives turn around over the years," Hataway said. "They are most deserving of a nice Christmas."
And they got their wish. Four children from the Wingard Home received teddy bears from Santa Claus. The jolly good fellow was played by Gore Galleries Director Randy Jolly. The kids also made sure to sit on Santa's knee and pose for photos. Charlotte Wingard was given a teddy bear, too.
Adding to the holiday season atmosphere at the B.C. Rogers Student Center, music professor Bonnie Blu Williams supplied the entertainment on the piano.
"The whole night was just sweet. It made everybody feel special," Charlotte said. And the hot apple pie cobbler was wonderful, too, she noted.
With Christmas holidays approaching during the nation's Great Recession, the event helped lift the spirits for those staying at the capital city home operated by the Christian ministry.
"It's a good boost for this time of year. It's a time of year when people say they don't have," Charlotte Wingard said at her office Wednesday. "It let them know people care about them."
One of the women visiting Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College was a single parent in her early 20s with two little girls and another child on the way in the spring of 2010. The mom, who works part-time at a fast-food restaurant in the Jackson area, "was smiling from ear to ear," during her MC visit, Wingard said.
The Wingard Home maintains a capacity for 42 residents. At the moment, its dorm for men is undergoing renovations, including work on the showers. Keeping the home repaired, handling the growing needs for food, and paying the utility bills is a year-round effort for the non-profit group.
During this tough time for the nation's economy, the needs list for the Wingard Home is great, she said. Volunteers are always welcome. "They are always a blessing," Wingard said.
Those living at the Wingard Home range from pregnant teens to young children to men and women who were abandoned or live in a dire financial situation. The adults must be willing to seek full-time employment and follow house rules.
Charlotte Wingard and her husband, Roy, know what it is like to be homeless. They were homeless in the Atlanta area in the late 1980s before they started the home in Jackson nearly twenty years ago.
For more information on the Wingard Home or to make a donation, call Charlotte Wingard at 601.355.9589.
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