JERSEY CITY — While many will be in their homes celebrating Christmas Day with their families, or just having a welcome day off, Quinton and Tameko Sawyer will be spending the day busy feeding the homeless in front of a downtown Jersey City building.
The Scotch Plains-based husband-and-wife developer team, who are under contract to purchase 17-23 Bates St. to develop for luxury rentals and retail (with the possibility of affordable housing), will be handing out 200 pre-packaged meals in the front of that building from 12-3 p.m. The building is located about two blocks west of the Jersey City Medical Center.
The Sawyers discovered about two months ago that at least 20 homeless people were using the building as a shelter.
“My husband was having a conversation with his cousin Eric [Williams] one day and talked about these homeless people he met and what he could do to help,” Tameko Sawyer said. “And that’s when we came up with the idea of feeding the homeless on Christmas, a time when many people are enjoying dinner with their loved ones.”
Sawyer said Williams, who played in the NBA from 1995-2007, had done feedings for the homeless before and immediately lent support to the Sawyers’ efforts and will be helping them give out food.
Sawyer she had reached out to local churches and homeless shelters to let them know about the service they are offering.
While she worries that they will run out of food in the three hours they are planning, Sawyer said it will be worth the effort as she recalls her husband’s favorite saying from Mother Teresa: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”
For more information about the Christmas effort, call (908) 644-6902. – RK