NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A local nonprofit honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his birthday by reaching out to those in the cold without a home.
The HEB Foundation gathered a couple dozen volunteers on Saturday at the Doris Miller Community Center. Inside, the organization distributed bags of toiletries, hats and gloves and makeshift blankets.
Volunteers then drove around the surrounding neighborhoods in search of homeless men and women to whom they could distribute the supplies.
Organizers tell News 3 this event is a yearly tradition.
"We don't have to know you to love you," said Mary Jackson, president of The HEB Foundation, which stands for Healing, Evolving and Building. "If you say you're hungry, we're going to feed you. If you come and say you don't have clothes, we're going to give you clothes. If you come and you say you just need some love, I'm the hugger. I'm going to hug you."
The foundation was created in 2018 and is named in honor of Jackson's son, Raghib Brooks, who was shot and killed. Its year-round efforts focus mainly on helping families impacted by gun violence.
Jackson says through donations, she was able to collect enough supplies to help 200 people on Saturday. Any leftovers would be given to area shelters to ensure they get to people in need.
