Homeless population receives free meal

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - 3 On Your Side witnessed the gift of giving in Smith Park.

The R U Hungry project made its mark on the homeless population, offering up free hot meals cooked just for them.

Bilal Qizilbash said, "Because our brothers and sisters are hungry. Not just hungry, some of them are starving unfortunately. So, we are doing our best to fulfill that need here in Jackson."

Hot meals and full hearts. Director of R U Hungry, Bilal Qizilbash, said the non profit serves up hot meals to the less fortunate and those people in need in downtown Jackson's Smith Park. The meals are prepared by a professional and chef as well as local community members.

Qizilbash said, "The response has been tremendous. When we first started we had about five people on average, but now we are getting over 70. Because we are getting so many people we have expanded and just started R U Fed. We partnered with Aladdin and basically anyone can go who is hungry and they can get a free meal over there. That's pretty cool."

Quicey Carpenter is just one of the many recipients who has been enjoying the loving gift for some time. The feeding is done every Friday at 6 p.m. in Smith Park and it started two years ago.

Carpenter said, "When you dedicate your time like that in a consistent fashion it shows you sincerely care. The meal is always good. It's not just thrown together. You can see someone actually cared about the amount, the taste, and the variety."

On this night the homeless filled their plates with friend chicken, fish, greens, potato salad and much more.

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