He’s prepping for another busy Christmas day, feeding over 4,000 people in Salina a free meal.
For the 41st year in a row Bill Fekas is planning to serve a free community-wide Christmas dinner, for pick-up or delivery only at the 4-H Building from 11am to 2pm on December, 25th.
Fekas joined in on the KSAL Morning News Extra this week to retrace the journey that began with a conversation he had with a notable Salina businessman.
Fekas’s dream began back in the early 1980s – to prepare and serve a free dinner for anyone who was alone on Christmas Day. Fekas tells KSAL that Salina businessman Dean Evans told him to get the ball rolling and he would pay the bill, “Dean said go ahead and then I said, now what did I get into?”
That first gathering of about 30 people has blossomed into a Salina tradition that crosses economic, racial and generational lines to celebrate the season with a good meal and good fellowship.
Although the meal will not be shared at the table, the helpful volunteers provide a Christmas warmth of their own.
The free meal is open to anyone and everyone in the community. Though the meal is free to those attend, it is not free for Fekas.
Any sort of a donation, large or small, would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent to:
Fekas Family Christmas Fund
P.O. Box 2173
Salina, KS
67402-2173
