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Volunteers in the Christmas spirit help homeless Melissa Mayne with Compassion Highway Project gives a woman stockings filled with gloves, socks and care items at Hawthorne Park Christmas Day. The organization holds homeless outreach meals every other Sunday. Nick Morgan/Mail Tribune Sunday Dec 25, 2016 at 5:49 PM Dec 25, 2016 at 5:49 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat More than 50 people gathered on the Bear Creek Greenway under the bridge Christmas Day either for a hot meal or to help. Early Sunday afternoon, about three dozen volunteers shared their Christmas spirit with Southern Oregon's down-and-out, who otherwise would have little to celebrate, dishing out hearty meals of ham, turkey, stuffing and trimmings, plus their pick of donated clothes and blankets and stockings filled with warm socks and personal care items. Though Compassion Highway Project reaches out every other Sunday at noon, the nearly 40 volunteers on-hand were far more than Melissa Mayne with the homeless outreach organization typically sees. They saw 10 volunteers on Thanksgiving. "Thanksgiving we were blown away, but the giving from this community is beyond amazing," Mayne said. Adriana and Erik Johnson and their three children of Medford were among the first-timers. The family handed out Ziplock bags filled with knit gloves, water bottles and peanut butter sandwiches for later. "There's some hand-warmers if you want, too," 8-year-old Jocelyn Johnson said, handing a man one of the plastic bags and extra hand-warmers. Erik Johnson said he has volunteered with the Medford Gospel Mission before, but this was the first time the Johnsons had volunteered together as a family. He and Adriana said they wanted to show their kids the importance of giving back. Mayne said the organization, active for a little over a year, reaches out to the homeless population first with food, then to build a rapport, which they use to connect people to mental health and addiction-treatment resources.  "We plant the seed," Mayne said. Mayne handed her card to 48-year-old Thomas Weaver as he warmed his hands with a cup of coffee after collecting a couple blankets. Weaver said he was originally from Fort Collins, Colorado, and had once studied to be an aviation mechanic before spending the last couple years off-and-on the streets. "I'll do good for 3 or 4 months, and then I'll fall," Weaver said. Mayne said the group reaches beyond the homeless population to "people in need." She said she admires charities such as The Salvation Army, but hopes her small organization of people "just coming together" can reach others that a larger organization may miss. "We've all struggled at some point," Mayne said.  Cathie Osborne of Medford, another founding volunteer, greeted a homeless man with a hug and asked if if he has a phone yet. Months ago, the man would hardly speak, but has since warmed up to Osborne and other Compassion Highway Project volunteers. "We try to make people feel like they're family, that people care," Osborne said. Osborne, her daughter and granddaughter all reached out Sunday, and said she had long dreamed of spending her Christmas helping others as a family. "All my adult life I dreamed of spending Christmas or Thanksgiving just like this," Osborne said. "It's my own Christmas miracle." The group regularly serves between 35 and 130 people every other week, according to Mayne, but she hopes to expand the organization's outreach.  Mayne said leftovers never go to waste. Volunteers dish what's extra into to-go containers and hand servings to people on the street. Find the Compassion Highway Project page on Facebook. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.