'These are real people; this is real life'

Girl, 8, learns lesson in giving while helping at Denver Rescue Mission

Katie Kerwin McCrimmon

Published December 22, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Camryn Magness, 8, shares her smile with those less fortunate than herself, handing out blankets to homeless men, women and children at the Denver Rescue Mission's Christmas Banquet on Friday. As the temperatures plunged, 50 volunteers served 500 guests a meal of ham, candied yams and pie during the annual holiday party.

As temperatures plunged and snow began to fall Friday afternoon, hundreds of homeless people received a warm meal and a new blanket at the Denver Rescue Mission's annual Christmas Banquet.

For the guests and the volunteers who served them ham, candied yams and pie, the gathering offered an opportunity to reflect on how giving and receiving offer a respite from the sorrow of spending a holiday without family, living on the streets.

Young volunteer

Camryn Magness comes from a world far from downtown Denver's homeless shelters. But on Friday, the 8-year- old girl felt at home amidst the poorest of Denver's poor.

"Would you like a blanket?" Camryn asked again and again, as people shuffled past her after Friday's Christmas banquet.

Some of the guests didn't smell great. Others had alcohol on their breath. But, Camryn didn't mind.

"I like being around them. I feel sorry for them,' " said Camryn. "It just makes me feel better because it seems like some people get everything they want and other people can't get anything."

The small child in the pale blue coat made a big impression on the adults who passed her.

"It's so nice to see a smile on her face," said Virginia Apodaca, 43, who has been living in an abandoned trailer in downtown Denver for the past 8 months. "It's not every day you see a child giving an adult a blanket. Usually, it's the adult giving the child a blanket."

Camryn comes from one of Denver's most high-powered families. Her mother is Sarah Siegel-Magness, whose dad Mo Siegel, founded Celestial Seasonings. Her dad is Gary Magness, son of cable magnate Bob Magness.

Sarah Siegel-Magness brought Camryn to the Rescue Mission because she wants to teach her first-hand about giving.

"For our family, it's really important not only to give money but also to give our time," Siegel-Magness said. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched her daughter.

"These are real people; this is real life," Siegel-Magness said. "This is part of her life: diversity and an understanding that life is not Cherry Hills alone. This becomes normal, not scary to her."

A welcome smile

Shawn DeBerry welcomed homeless people to lunch as if they were honored guests at her home.

"Good morning to you," DeBerry said, her entire face lighting up with a smile. "Please have a seat here."

DeBerry, who works for Mayor Hickenlooper's Clergy Council, was among 50 volunteers who served more than 500 meals.

DeBerry seated a man whose name is Sean Barry. The two laughed over the coincidence of their nearly identical names. For DeBerry, the connection with Barry reinforced why she relished spending time at the Rescue Mission.

"People are the only thing that matter. Without people you have nothing," she said. "Do you understand how great it is to be able to give and not to have to receive? I get to go home every night and I eat whatever I want and sleep in my bed or on my couch."

Along with smiles, DeBerry handed out something even more precious to most homeless people: hugs. DeBerry knows that most people are afraid to touch a homeless person for fear they'll get some terrible disease.

"When you see the faces in here, this is somebody's son or daughter. We just try to give them a moment when they're special. It's a beautiful thing. We have more than we need and we know it."

People still care

Sean Barry, 43, has lost touch with his 9 children this Christmas and found a semblance of family at the Christmas banquet.

"I appreciate it. It's nice to know that people still care about the homeless even though a lot of us put ourselves into this predicament," said Barry.

He said he couldn't hold his family together and has lost contact with his children, who come from 3 different moms and range in age from 11 to 23.

"It's depressing. It just happened," Barry said of his alienation from his family. "Some people are into alcohol and drugs. I don't drink. My problem is bad luck."

'My daddy put us out'

DaMareyo Scarborough should be looking forward to a wonderful week. First comes Christmas, then he turns 3 on Dec. 29. But the little boy with big brown eyes arrived at the Denver Rescue Mission with a heart-breaking tale.

"My daddy put us out," DaMareyo said.

On Wednesday night, Thomesha Scarborough said her boyfriend told her to get out. They had been together since they met in middle school when she was 12 and he was 14. Now, he told her he had found a new girlfriend and wanted her gone.

On Wednesday night, she scraped together enough money to stay at a hotel. She has been wandering from shelter to shelter ever since. Her family is in Nebraska.

On Friday, she found help and food at the Rescue Mission. DaMareyo enjoyed ham and a bottle of milk, while workers doted on him and tried to get his mom diapers and temporary housing.

"I can't let it stress me. I'm going to find a way for us." Scarborough said. "I've been on my own since I was 13. I've always had a job and an apartment."

"It feels different to have to have help, to have to go other places to eat. I'm hardly even used to this. They're so helpful."

• December 23, 2007

  3:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  kevin3 writes:

  Easy for you to say theQ as you get to sleep in a nice warm bed, at night! You probably do not have any family members who are homeless. That is fine that conservatives like you have this view, and to a certain extent you are right. However, these are human beings and to throw them a bone or two to help them with their misery is the humane thing to do as we spend trillions of dollars on a meaningless war over seas.

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