KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It's not the food, the coffee or the packages Rachelle Burnett hands out that make every Sunday feel like Christmas at Ilus Davis Park in downtown Kansas City.
It's a different kind of donation, a hug, that makes the park feel like home for those with nowhere else to go.
"It's free. It doesn't cost anything, and it feels amazing," Burnett said of the embraces she doles out each week.
Burnett is a volunteer with Free Hot Soup Kansas City, a Facebook group with thousands of members who provide food, drinks, and warm clothing to the homeless every Sunday in five different locations across the metro.
Lance Dyer is one of the regulars. He comes by every week not only for the soup and snacks but also to see his friends.
"Like family. I give hugs," Dyer said of his bond with the volunteers he sees each week.
"She helps everybody. If you don't got a coat, she's gonna give it off her back. That's what a great lady is," Teri Wheeler, a former recipient who now volunteers, said of Burnett.
The feeling is mutual.
"I mean just as you think about your family and your friends, I think about them every day," Burnett said.
On Christmas Eve, volunteers doled out soup, dressing, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. They also handed out snack bags, presents for kids and coats, scarves and gloves.
While all of the gifts made this Sunday feel like a holiday, it was the people that truly made it feel like Christmas.
"We have given them a friendship that they may not have had," Burnett said.
