'Christmas is more than just opening presents. It's about sharing. It's love'

Approximately 200 homebound Columbus area residents received a Christmas Day meal Monday, thanks to a group of volunteers who prepared and delivered the holiday food at the Damascus Way shelter for women and children.

Beverly Collier, a nurse at Martin Army Community Hospital on Fort Benning, has been helping this effort "off and on" for seven years. She usually is among the more than 40 drivers delivering the meals. But this time she was one of the dozen folks in the kitchen, filling to-go boxes with turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, gravy, cranberry sauce, a roll and a dessert.

"It's a way of giving back," she said. "Christmas is more than just opening presents. It's about sharing. It's love."

And the people she shares that love with motivate her to keep coming back to this program run by the Valley Rescue Mission.

"It's so fun," she said, "and it's a great feeling you get when you give."

This story was originally published December 25, 2017 at 11:59 AM with the headline "'Christmas is more than just opening presents. It's about sharing. It's love'."