Macon holiday feast marks 20 years

What began two decades ago as a spur-of-the-moment giveaway of leftover holiday food to needy people in Fort Valley has turned into an annual well-oiled effort to feed thousands of people and spread the Christmas spirit in Macon.

This year marks the 20th year of the Anita Ponder & Friends Holiday Feast, which has expanded over the years to include free clothes, toys, haircuts and other services.

The origin of the Macon holiday staple goes back to Christmas Day 1995. As usual, Ponder said, her mother, Margie, cooked too much food for the family.

"My mom would just cook all this food. It was like cooking for a football team for five people," said Ponder, a former Macon City Council president. "One day I looked at my sisters and said, 'Let's get some paper plates and pack it up in our (Ford) Bronco and pass it around in neighborhoods where they didn't have food.' "

Ponder estimates her family handed out about 30 plates that year. The following year officially marked the start of the annual feast as Ponder's family took food to a senior citizens community center in Fort Valley. In its second year in 1997, the event moved to Macon where more than 100 people enjoyed a Christmas dinner at the Rosewood Ballroom.

The venues for the feast have changed over time as the crowds and numbers of volunteers have swelled. It's been held at the Douglass Theatre and at Molly's Cafe where it became a de facto block party with tents set up along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Ponder credits the staff at those places for being willing to open their doors on a holiday when most people want to spend time at home with their families.

This Christmas, meals will be delivered to about 500 senior citizens, and more than 1,500 people are expected at the Terminal Station, which has been the location of the event for the past few years.

"We feed thousands, even have thousands of toys for kids, have barbers and hair- stylists," Ponder said. "We have a store where people help you try on clothes."

Ponder, an attorney in Dallas, is able to stay in touch with the plans from her home in Texas through social media. On Facebook, scores of volunteers trade messages as they discuss this year's feast.

"(The volunteers) have such a vested interest in this," Ponder said. "Quite frankly, I fly in, and they have it set up and they love doing it."

HOW THE FEAST IS PULLED OFF

This year's preparation of more than 150 hams, 150 turkeys and sides galore began Saturday. The process is down to a science, said longtime volunteer Sandra Bryant.

First Presbyterian Day School is allowing the use of its kitchen to prepare some of the meals. Meanwhile, the members of Tabernacle of Prayer Christian Fellowship, on Lackey Drive, cook about 50 turkeys and donate about 75 pounds of dressing that will be stored in First Presbyterian's freezer, Bryant said.

By Tuesday or Wednesday, the meat will be placed into the refrigerator to begin thawing. The sides, which include string beans, yams and corn, will be cooked this week ahead of the dinner.

"It requires a huge number of volunteers," Bryant said. "Everybody sees the need, and once they see what we do, they want to help out."

Those attending the feast include the homeless and others who are simply down on their luck.

"Some moms that come sometimes have three or four kids and for whatever reason maybe they are laid off or have come on hard times so we try to help them out," Bryant said.

Even a simple free haircut for some people can be a minor transformation that makes them look and feel like a new person, she said.

"I've never been there, but by the grace of God, I know it could be me," Bryant said about the struggle of some in the city. "(Ponder's) passion became my passion."

Bryant's company, GE Capital, supports the feast by providing volunteers while the Turner Ragan American Legion Georgia Post 594 donates bicycles. The nonprofit Motivating Youth Foundation, which provides educational support for young people, helps organize the event.

Those groups are among the scores of churches, organizations and businesses that have helped the event become what it is, Bryant said.

And the event continues to evolve: This year volunteers have been asked to donate a laptop or electronic tablet to be given to children who may be too old for toys.

Larry and Annie Cornelius are among those who have bought a laptop that will be given to a deserving teenager. The couple will deliver meals to senior citizens in the morning and then pass out toys at the main event.

Annie Cornelius remembers about 15 volunteers at the feast the first time she and her husband began helping about a decade ago.

"We started with one bicycle and now we give three," she said. "This is our favorite thing every year."

For Larry Cornelius, it's exciting to be able to give back.

"I just like to see the joy on people's face," he said. "We're struggling ourselves, but we can still take time to help someone else."

And after 20 years, Ponder has no plans to stop holding the event. The reason she continues even after moving to the Lone Star State several years ago is simple.

"Home is where your heart is, and my heart is in Georgia," she said.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623.

IF YOU GO

Anita Ponder & Friends Holiday Feast will take place on Christmas Day at Terminal Station, 200 Cherry St., Macon. The free event starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Macon holiday feast marks 20 years ."