WACO, Texas — The Feast in the East started as a Facebook post six years ago and evolved into an annual tradition in East Waco, feeding hundreds of people in need.
This marks the second year the feast was not held in person, but rather, meals were handed out to people who drove up to the Waco Multipurpose Community Center on Thursday afternoon. This year, the feast provided 200 boxes of enough food to feed six to eight people.
Around one hundred volunteers joined forces with co-organizers Rocky and Keshia Miller.
"We had so many hands that the work seemed very light," Keshia Miller said.
The annual program is entirely funded by donations. Miller said the pandemic and economic ups and downs made the need for this year's "feast" greater.
"With the fifty or seventy dollars in that box, you're able to take that money and either pay it forward, buy another gift, or do something else," she said.
Car by car, Waco City Council member Andrea Barefield said it was an honor to watch the community in action.
"It makes my heart proud to know that our people — we are interconnected and looking out for one another," Barefield said.
This year was the first "Feast in the East" since Miller was diagnosed with breast cancer. After leaving Thursday's preparation to undergo radiation treatment, she came right back.
"I just feel I have to. I feel honored, really, to be able to do this for other people," she said.
Not even that could stop the Feast in the East from providing free holiday meals to 200 Waco families.
