On Christmas, Rock Hill volunteers came out in force: Even the state football champions

Close to 200 volunteers at the Dorothy Day soup kitchen came together Sunday to help feed more than 500 of Rock Hill’s neediest a Christmas meal.

The annual Christmas Day meal is sponsored, hosted and staffed by many of the same volunteers who make and serve meals at the soup kitchen six days a week. The kitchen has been open for more than 30 years and has served more than a million meals.

Around 15 players from South Pointe High’s football team took part in packaging and preparing food parcels Sunday morning. The players are just a week removed from the team’s third straight state championship victory.

The volunteers delivered around 500 meals to shut-ins or elderly people around the area, and also served about 50-75 people at the kitchen’s headquarters on Crawford Road.

Several kind-hearted donors helped provide food and gifts for those in need.

One donor gave 100 toothbrushes and packs of toothpaste, while another delivered several boxes of blankets and gloves. A Comporium call center in Lancaster donated 30 gift bags, while others took care of toiletries.

More than 400 cans of nonperishable goods were collected, thanks to a canned food drive at Finley Road Elementary School, organizers say. Meanwhile, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Rock Hill donated 11 turkeys, according to organizers.

This story was originally published December 25, 2016 at 5:49 PM with the headline "On Christmas, Rock Hill volunteers came out in force: Even the state football champions."