While most people were still tucked in their beds, a few people took care of those in New Orleans who don’t have a bed, making breakfast for a group of homeless people living under the Claiborne overpass.

“You don’t have to be rich,” volunteer Jerry Young said. “We’re just normal people and said, ‘Hey, let’s put (this) together. Let’s do it.’ ”

And Young and his friends did it, as well as Dwight Henry, who closed his bakery and deli for the first time on Christmas Day.

“This Christmas, we decided to close up to really feel the true meaning of Christmas and give to some people that really need help right now,” Henry said. “The meaning of giving, giving to people that really need it. The homeless people are people that really need us right now, and for us to come out here and feed some people that need to be fed, it’s really emotional and that’s the true meaning of Christmas and giving of yourself and it’s just a wonderful feeling.

“I encourage anybody that’s able to help these people, I encourage them to enjoy the same feeling I’m enjoying right now and give. They’re telling us merry Christmas and how much they really love us and how much they enjoy the sacrifice that we are making for them.

“And it’s emotional to them and it’s emotional to me for someone to come up to me and tell me that I’m a significant part of their lives today it’s really emotional.”

It’s those words that make standing under the interstate in the cold, wet weather one of the best Christmas’s these volunteers said they’ve ever had.

A donation given to Henry from a passerby made the holiday even sweeter for some homeless.

“That's true meaning of Christmas,” Henry said.

For Young, the idea came as he sat with friends one day.

“We were all sitting around – me and a group of guys – and we were just like lets do something for Christmas,” Young said. “We’ve been blessed. So, we just felt like coming out and blessing other people. We’re fortunate enough to do this.”