Santa Spreads Holiday Cheer at Local Soup Kitchen

After a long night of gift giving, Santa stopped by Iron Gate on Christmas morning.

It was no surprise to see Santa, but six-year-old Anisten Brown and her brother eight-year-old Canton were serving. Their nine-year-old brother Merrit served up the briquette.

At the other end of the line, they all got up early to see Santa.

But they hadn’t played with anything yet because their mother Kristin Brown says helping others is more important.

"It takes the focus off us and our family and serves somebody else instead of serving ourselves," she explained.

They'll have plenty of play time when they finish helping.

Dee Childs and her daughter Reagan Oliver have been coming to Iron Gate on Christmas for 12 years.

“This is our favorite thing to do on Christmas morning; we wouldn't be anywhere else," said Childs.

They buy toys, puzzles and crayons so when kids come in they can have something special for themselves.

Iron Gate is open every day, and the staff told me the numbers were tracking pretty normally for a Friday, somewhere between six and 700 plates of food served.