Instead of staying indoors and staying warm on Christmas morning, a family of four braved the icy temperatures and frigid wind to hand out sack lunches to the needy in Salt Lake City.
The Best family of Sandy packed 270 of the lunches into their SUV and distributed them to hungry people at Pioneer Park and at The Road Home, a shelter for families.
Grace Best and her family make the yearly trek downtown to hand out the food "because we've been blessed."
Her son Kaleb, now living in Pennsylvania, started the tradition out of a desire to spend family time together doing something meaningful as opposed to going to a movie or "spending money on Christmas," she said. Jordan Best, 17, said his brother, Kaleb, wanted to "boycott" the commercialism of Christmas and "give back" to society, giving birth to an eight-year family tradition during which they give out 100 meals each year.
This year was a little different, however. Jordan needed a service project for his Eagle Scout award. So, following the family tradition, the Alta High senior and his Boy Scout troop from the LDS Draper Crescent 30th Ward set up an assembly line in the Bests' home to prepare and pack 270 lunches consisting of roast beef, ham, and turkey sandwiches, fruit, chips, and candy bars into brown paper bags to give to the needy.
"We involved all the Scouts in the neighborhood," Grace said.
Others were involved, too. The troop raised $1,000 to finance the Christmas lunch.
The family started at Pioneer Park to give the bounty, then went to the Road Home shelter where a multitude of hungry souls received a Christmas lunch.
Sandwiches were wrapped in plastic, waiting to be devoured by hungry mouths. Chips and candy bars were set free of their confines. Pigeons patrolled Rio Grande, looking for fallen chips and bread crusts.
The brown bags went quickly to "thank yous," "Merry Christmases" and smiles — the cold wind not dampening the need for food.
The Best family was modest about their service to those in need. They didn't inflate their accomplishments or brag. They were just happy to be together and give hungry people food. However, Grace is proud of her children and their willingness to serve on Christmas Day.
"I have amazing kids," she said.
E-mail: lwilde@desnews.com