TULSA, Okla — The City Lights Foundation hosted its 12th annual "Christmas Under the Bridge" event Dec. 18. in downtown Tulsa near Maybelle Avenue and Reconciliation Way.
It aims to remind our unhoused neighbors that they’re not alone.
WATCH: City Lights Foundation hosts 12th annual Christmas celebration
Melvin Morgan said he’s fortunate to not be in the same predicament as many of the people who have to stay downtown, and is thankful to the City Lights organization for helping the community.
“'I’ve been here since when it first started," he said. “It's a blessing for a lot of these people, that are right here, out there on the street. And it’s someplace for me to go.”
He also said that while the event gives him a warm meal to eat, it also warms his heart.
“My family is back home and it's about 150 miles southwest from here, and I don't get to travel that much," he said. "Coming out here, it's just like a family, just have people to see, new faces and meet other people and stuff like that."
Sarah Grounds is the co-founder of the City Lights Foundation.
She said while the organization hosts events like this one regularly, this one is special.
The organization is providing different meals, Christmas gifts, and even photos with Santa Claus to Tulsans who need just a bit more care this holiday season.
“We know that for a lot of our neighbors, they can carry a lot of heaviness, especially during the season, and so for many of them, this may be the only celebration that they get to be a part of," she said. “We will probably serve around 350 people tonight, and that's pretty normal for us towards the end of the month. And so we expect to see everybody.”
“I think that that's what's so beautiful about night light, is people are coming together from across different places in Tulsa," she said. "To be here to serve and to even sit at a table and have dinner with somebody that maybe they wouldn't normally have dinner with.”
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