While Santa delivers presents, Tampa man prepares Christmas dinner for those in need
TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - While some were up early Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree, Roger Thiel also started his day long before sunrise, but for a much different reason.
"I started cooking about 4 a.m. I do a lot of the prep at home. I've been on it for the last week between acquiring everything and getting it," said Roger Thiel.
For the fifth year in a row, Thiel has used his own money to buy supplies for a Christmas feast, using his holiday to serve homemade meals to the homeless.
He sets up in a parking lot on the southeast corner of Nebraska Avenue and Fowler Avenue. Everyone who stopped by was greeted with a hot plate and warm hearts.
"I've been blessed with things," said Thiel. "So it's a way for me to help and do something for someone else."
It's a Christmas tradition that has become special not just to Thiel, but also for those in the community.
"I'm like, how we going to eat? We don't have food at the house. I was walking up to the store, and they said 'We're feeding over there!' And I was like 'Thank you, Jesus,'" said Sammy Smith.