TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Some Tupelo church members remained hard at work on Christmas Eve, doing what might seem like an impossible task: feeding hundreds of people.
"We're setting out all of our bread, we're counting our tables, setting our tables. We're opening up all of our canned goods, and are beginning to put them on the stove and season them," Temple of Compassion and Deliverance Elder Glenda Payne said. "We're transferring all of our baked turkey to our warmers, and getting ready for Christmas Day."
For them, it's all part of the job. You see, Christians On The Move to Evangelize -- or C.O.M.E. -- has been doing this for 25 years.
They say these meals represent something more than a gift or a gesture.
"It's very important, I think, to help others to have what they need, and food is a necessity. It's something that we need," Temple of Compassion and Deliverance Pastor Alniece Liggins said. "We're doing it on Christmas to bring a hot meal into their lives."
It also means they have to prepare hours ahead of time, using food that's been donated for others who may feel forgotten on this Christmas holiday.
"We just feel like people who don't know you, if they do something for you, that might take away some of that depression," Payne said. "A lot of people this time of year, they get depressed because they don't have the things that they want. We feel like as Christians, it's our job to let them know that God loves them."
C.O.M.E. partners with seven area churches to complete this task, which they say seems to grow every year. This year, they're feeding at least 600 people, hoping to bring some holiday cheer to those who may go without.
Those plates will go to area inmates and family members in local hospital intensive care units.
