expected large numbers this year

expected large numbers this year, like the 300 people it served at Thanksgiving, probably because of the waning economy. He said the Salvation Army also did a higher number of home-delivered meals Thursday.

"There's lots of people who have no place to go for Christmas," Montgomery said.

Most of the visitors were either homeless or had no cooking facilities where they currently live. Montgomery said some people just had no family to spend the holidays with so they decided to come in for the atmosphere as well as the food.

More than 50 volunteers helped serve the lunch and dinner as well as deliver meals to shut-ins.

Bella Vista's Richard Smith said he and his wife had their Christmas and realized they had nothing to do in the afternoon, so they decided to come help at the Salvation Army.

"It is always rewarding," he said. "We feel like it's certainly worth it."

Some volunteers brought their whole families to lend a hand to the less fortunate on Christmas. Jennifer Mansell, her husband and their two children were running around serving meals and hauling delivery boxes. Mansell said it's the first year they've helped at the Salvation Army.

"We just wanted to do something for the people of Northwest Arkansas," she said.

Her favorite part of the meal was watching everyone who was partaking smile and actually have a joyful Christmas, she said.

Jeff Mortensen of Bentonville and Mike Najar of Houston manned the end of the food line. They chatted with patrons and kept spirits high during the early afternoon. Mortensen said the decision to volunteer at Salvation Army was made to help with a community need.

"A lot of people showed up," Mortensen said. "It's been great."

Fayetteville's Cindy Shafer said deciding to volunteer was easy because she had already celebrated Christmas with her family and had a free day.

"I donated turkeys at Thanksgiving," she said.

All the volunteers agreed the time was fulfilling and all the patrons agreed the meal was filling.

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01:02 - 2008-Dec-27