By Greg Gullberg
Feb. 14, 2013

Valdosta, GA - They literally came by the bus load for the Valentine's Day Banquet at "Grace Fellowship Church" in Valdosta Thursday. Hundreds of South Georgia's homeless were treated to dinner, gospel and plenty of poetry. And it's all free to the homeless.

"Times are hard but even more than food, people want to know that they're special," said Pastor Winston Taylor of Grace Fellowship Church. "People want to know that they're loved. And so this isn't going to do anything to help the hard times but it's going to do something more important, to remind people they're cared about, their not discarded, their loved."

From the napkins, to the candles to the center pieces, everything was dressed up like roses. The banquet was in cooperation with the "South Georgia Partnership to End Homelessness".

"One of the greatest scriptures that I've ever read was in John 3:16. When it said for God so loved the world that he gave. Love is about giving. And who better to give to than someone who is less fortunate than you," said Ronnie Mathis Ph.D., Executive Director of "S. Ga Partnership to End Homelessness".

Georgia and Kentucky are tied for the fifth highest poverty rate in the country according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Georgia, 19% of residents live below the poverty line.