MS Coast breakfast spot will open Christmas Day to feed the homeless. Here’s how to help
This month, James Ball went to Buzzy’s Breakfast Downtown in Ocean Springs and met the owner. Rebecca O’Keefe wanted to know if local soup kitchens were open on Christmas. Ball runs a nonprofit for homeless people on the Coast, and he told her nothing was open on the holiday.
O’Keefe decided to help.
“She just immediately said, “I’ll do it,’” Ball said.
O’Keefe will open Buzzy’s from 8 to 10 a.m. Christmas Day to serve breakfast for the homeless community of Ocean Springs.
Ball, who founded Invisible People Outreach, will be there to help.
“I’ll be here cooking,” O’Keefe said.
And Ocean Springs residents rushed to volunteer, too.
“Unbelievable,” is the response to the breakfast, O’Keefe said.. “We had so many volunteers,” she said — too many to fit in her kitchen.
Ball’s Facebook post advertising the plan had over 20,000 views — more than the population of the Ocean Springs. Since Ball and O’Keefe already had enough volunteers, they’ve asked people to drop off fast food gift cards that homeless people can use after the holiday.
Buzzy’s said on Facebook that residents can buy $5 or $10 gift cards from any fast food restaurant and drop them off at the restaurant.
O’Keefe said they’ve had a tremendous response to the gift card donations and people from across the Coast brought hand crank radios to Buzzy’s as gifts on Christmas.
“We’re going to hand those out as well when they’re leaving,” she said. “Just make sure they have Christmas.”
Ball urged residents to understand the realities of homelessness in Ocean Springs. He estimated there are 100 homeless people living in the city, and he said the best way to help is find a local charity and volunteer or donate to it.
O’Keefe said she wasn’t aware that soup kitchens weren’t open on Christmas. The restaurant is so close to where the homeless eat, she said, it was an opportunity to help.
“Open up the opportunities and it’s amazing how many people come forward,” she said.
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 10:15 AM.