Kountry Kitchen hosts Christmas Giveback INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For nearly two decades, one Indianapolis restaurant has made it its mission to ensure no family goes without a hot meal on Christmas Day. This year, Kountry Kitchen Soul Food Place served at least 3,500 home-cooked meals, along with distributing toys and clothing to people in need. “It’s a community effort, and it’s a lot of businesses that have supported us, and it’s just wonderful,” said Cynthia Wright-Wilson, owner of Kountry Kitchen Soul Food Place. “People are getting fed, they’re getting clothes, hats, gloves, and this year, we also did coats.” Each year, volunteers come together before sunrise, chopping, cooking, packaging, and delivering meals across the city. Volunteer Asmaa Quran said this is her second year volunteering, and she came back to pay it forward. “You always gotta think, ‘It’s always something worse that can happen.’ It could always be worse,” Quran said. “Just grateful to have what I have now and what I look back from. I’ve been on both sides of the boat. So, I understand.” Andrea Neely and her family have volunteered with Kountry Kitchen since the begnining. “When it first started, and they were launching this, I got a call, and I was like, ‘This is a great way to give back to the community, and for my kids to be apart of it.’ So, it’s a family affair,” Neely said. As Neely sees it, it’s all about making a difference in your own community, and making that commitment to being a staple. Neely’s son Blake, also a volunteer, said the spirit of giving is now instilled in him. “I moved out to Denver (Colorado) recently, and I started to do some food pantries out there, as well,” Blake said. “It becomes a part of you at a certain point. When I was a kid, I didn’t like to serve. I thought it was annoying, which is pretty bad, but now, it’s probably something I can’t live without.” Volunteer Michelle Harris, who is originally from Indianapolis, traveled eight hours from Atlanta with her family to continue a long family tradition of volunteering on Christmas Day. “It’s a staple to me,” Harris said. “It’s something that has a lot of meaning to my family and to myself to be able to give back as much as we can, and be grateful with what he have.” Kountry Kitchen hopes to serve even more people in the community next year. The restaurant hopes to create more partnerships and obtain more volunteers in the new year. ...read more read less