DALLAS -- The Christmas Angel Project gave more than 400 homeless women and men a night's stay in a warm, clean hotel room, new clothes, meals and "fond memories," according to the event's organizer.
SoupMobile Inc., a nonprofit agency that feeds the hungry, was overseeing the Christmas Angel Project in 2004. In that first year, about 100 people checked into the Hyatt Regency Dallas. This year, about 405 people signed up for the event. Participants spent Christmas Eve at the Hyatt, where they were greeted with applause.
"This is fantastic. This wasn't fake. This was sincere. I saw it in their eyes," Jennifer Bonds told The Dallas Morning News in its Wednesday online edition.
Participants were treated to an afternoon banquet and got to spend Christmas Day at the hotel, plus they got a few gifts.
Deborah Brooks, 52, a first-time guest, said she was blown away when she stepped off a bus to see a crowd of more than 500 people cheering her down a 75-foot red carpet. The woman, who has been homeless for eight years, said she never expected such attention.
"I got emotional walking down there," she said.
Private donations pay for the hotel rooms, transportation and gifts, which total about $100 per person, said David Timothy, founder of SoupMobile Inc.
"This is a magical Christmas that they'll never forget, nor will the volunteers. When it's long over, they will have these fond memories," said Timothy, Angel Project creator and event organizer.
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