For the 21st straight Christmas, the Gleaners food bank hosted a free Christmas dinner at St. Patrick's Church in Youngstown.
Meals were served to more than three hundred Valley families, many of whom might not have had a Christmas dinner without the help of others. Afterwards, volunteers passed out toys for children, new clothing, fruit baskets and poinsettia plants for elderly people.
Joe Lordi, executive director of Gleaners, got this started after falling on some hard times many years ago.
"There is no need for someone that doesn't have nothing, that doesn't have family, or doesn't have money to go get something," Lordi said. "They can come here every Christmas time, and get a nice meal, and go home with some nice gifts. And it's all because of the community, and the people involved that make it happen."
Lordi added that the dinner wouldn't be possible without the generous donations that people in the Valley have made.
