Durham Rescue Mission serves up hope with traditional New Year's Day meal

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A new year began with fellowship and fun at the Durham Rescue Mission.

The mission served up a New Year's Day dinner complete with black-eyed peas and collard greens.

This dinner was a bit different than the one the DRM serves up for other holidays.

For those meals, it is a familiar set-up outside the rescue mission where cooking takes place all night -- turkeys for Thanksgiving and chickens for Easter.

But on Monday, there was something a little different inside the mission.

It was a feast of what many traditionally eat on New Year's Day -- ham, collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread.

Dinner started about 4:30 p.m., and it was the regular dinner for the folks in the men's program in east Durham.

But they wanted to do something special to get the New Year off on the right foot.

"The cooks have gone out of their way to make sure that the guys have a very big festive New Year's meal and to welcome in 2024, which we hope will be a year of hope," said Lenny Sutherland of the DRM.

They're doing the same meal at the women's and children's center in Durham as well.

Monday night is also another White Flag Night, given the drop in temperatures.

The staffers at the rescue mission canvass the area and offer free transportation to both centers during those cold nights.