Bride calls off wedding, throws party for the homeless

[ConsAreLiars]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Canceled%20Wedding
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 · Last updated 4:37 a.m. PT

Bride calls off wedding, throws party for the homeless
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

EVERETT, Wash. -- A young woman decided to call off her wedding 12 days before the event and her parents knew they'd be stuck with the bill, so they decided to have a party anyway and invited the homeless.

Residents of the Interfaith Family Shelter, housed in a former convent across from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church where the wedding had been scheduled, attended the bash thrown by Katie Hosking, 22, a medical assistant at the Everett Clinic, and her parents, Bill and Susan Hosking of Lake Stevens.

"They had a DJ and really good music. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere. The food was delicious. It was a nice break with people not worrying about anything for one night," shelter manager Carol Oliva said. "Toward the end of the evening, they packed up all the leftover food and we got to bring it back to the shelter."

One homeless woman got her son out of a wheelchair, "took that child out on the dance floor and picked him up and danced with him. It was a beautiful sight. Our kids realized that even when something bad happens, somebody else has something worse," Susan Hosking said. "It was an eye-opener."

(edit to add link)

[snacker]

1. What a heartwarming story.

[driver8]

2. That is a great story...it is nice to read some good news once

in awhile...

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Wow! Talk about making Lemonade out of lemons!!! That is classic.

[Xipe Totec]

4. May God Bless Them n/t

[malaise]

5. What a great story n/t

[blm]

6. What a great show of humanity.

.

[Matilda]

7. Love it!

Full marks to the Hosking family.

[PinkTiger]

8. See? this is what the runaway bride from earlier this summer should have

done, and then she wouldn't be paying all that restitution, appearing on talk shows and selling her book.....wait a minute.
WAS SHE TRYING TO MAKE SOME MONEY FROM THIS??????

My tin foil hat is ticking.

[fortyfeetunder]

22. Yeah allegedly to the tune of $X00,000's

I can't remember what X equals, but she shouldn't get one damn dime, and this young lady in Everett WA should get the publicity instead.

[AlCzervik]

Wow! Good on her and i hope it gets some coverage.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

9. What a shameful display of kindness.

This will never do in today's america.

[ConsAreLiars]

10. Local TV News (Ch5) added this detail to the story --

They had an interview with the homeless woman with the severely disabled child in the wheelchair. She said it had been 5 years since they had been to any kind of party. What it meant to her -- well, I don't have the words. You could see it.

[madaboutharry]

11. There was a story years ago about a woman

whose fiance broke it off a few months before the wedding and the catering hall wouldn't refund any money. So she invited homeless people from nearby shelters and they all had a five course meal at this fancy hotel in New York. I remember seeing this on the news and thought it was great.

[barb162]

14. I will bet that fancy hotel wishes it had returned her money rather

than have the homeless people walking through their hotel

[jbnow]

29. Maybe that is how they got the idea. Article says

"they took a suggestion from her brother-in -law in New York" to do this after they got over initial shock.
And perhaps if this gets much publicity someone will suggest it to another family in the situation.

People don't always think at their best when things suddenly go wrong, might not even think of it, but would jump at idea if suggested. It brings the joy back to the plans and the day meant to be joyous.

I'm not religious...but this reminded me of a Jesus story I vaguely recalled and I had to go look.

Luke
<13> But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, <14> and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

[dryan]

58. I remember...

that story except the groom didn't show up for the rehearsal the night before. He left a note at the church saying he changed his mind. The bride couldn't get her money back from the caterer so she threw a party for some local homeless people. She played "I will Survive".

[ecoalex]

12. This is good Religion

This is what people need to do , random acts of hospitality, a great community builder.

[Roland99]

13. Now that's compassion!

:party:

:grouphug:

[SupormomFreeAtLast]

15. Touching story.

Compassionate liberal values.

[qanda]

16. What a nice story

I just had to recommend it.

[KalicoKitty]

17. Much better than hearing about that runaway bride!

[Horse with no Name]

18. Now this is a "Runaway Bride" that I would love to see

benefit from book deals, etc.
I just have a sneaky feeling she would do something wonderful with the money.

[tallahasseedem]

19. This should get more press than the Runaway Bride.

Things like this reaffirms my faith in humanity.

[iamjoy]

60. It Should Get More Press

She sounds cool, smart and like she's a real Christian.

She should be the one getting book & movie deals and doing talk shows.

I think if our media focused more on the positive things people do and not the negative we would have a better society.

[Merope215]

20. What a terrific story!

Thanks so much for posting that. It's so wonderful to read about good things happening for people who need them, even if that kind of news doesn't come around too often.

And to the Hosking family...good job outta you.

[SW FL Dem]

21. Great story - what a way to make something painful

into something uplifting.

[WCGreen]

23. So where's Cattie Couric.......

[fortyfeetunder]

24. That young lady was so humble

And classy in her own way. She was so happy to have done some good. I hope she gets more publicity instead of the runaway bride in Georgia.

[msanthrope]

25. How wonderful of the Hoskings. I wish them all the best. n/t

[quiet.american]

26. This is beautiful! n/t

[patdem]

27. Talk about your 'Runaway Bride' I have tears in my eyes..threatening

to run down my cheeks any moment...this should get more play than some selfish liar.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

28. a light in the darkness!....does a heart good...thanks

[neuvocat]

30. What a wonderful family.

I wish there were more like that in the world.

[montana_hazeleyes]

31. This is such a great story!

I'm so Glad to read it. I wish this story would get more publicity also.

[Missy Vixen]

32. Katie Hosking and her parents rock

I'm guessing that there are many parents in the Pacific Northwest tonight who would wish to have such a wonderful daughter-in-law. Good for Katie and good for her parents, who made lemonade out of life's lemons.

What a touching story.

Julie

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. Countless times I've played for functions that sent their leftover food

straight to the trash bin. I've felt sick at times, looking at the waste, and thinking how many hungry people it might feed.

Marriott Corporation could learn from these people...

[Princess Turandot]

40. There's a charity in NYC which exists to pick up food from hotel kitchens.

corporate parties, all types of functions, and deliver it early the next day to various shelters all over the city. I guess a lot of the stuff can be made into other things. It's a very big operation here now: corporations sponsor the refrigerated trucks and some paid staff and some volunteers pick up and deliver the food. Once or twice I've been at a function as it was winding down and seen these guys zipping in to pack and cart off the remaining food.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

43. That's good to know!

Do you remember the name of it? I'd like to find out if there's a chapter of it here in the DC area.

[Gemini Cat]

34. This is a great!

What a wonderful thing to do for others. Gives me hope.

[tubbacheez]

35. Did the ex-groom get a slice of cake, too? :) n/t

[WillyT]

36. *sniff* THAT... Was A Beautiful Thing To Do !!!

Wow... just... wow.

:cry:

[undergroundpanther]

37. Wow..

Wish I knew about it, and lived nearby,I would have helped them all out!!and made it a bigger party,maybe huistled to get some donations or something so they could all do this again!

[undergroundpanther]

39. Waitaminute

How many subscribers are there to DU?

Something like 70,000?

If each of us donated ONE BUCK,

That money could do a hellofalot to help people.
It could buy a house in a cheesy neighborhood for someone with no house, 2 bucks from each member could get them a decent house..

It could be used to help people avoid some evictions,pay some on medical bills to avoid bankruptcy,or get people who want it into drug rehab.

Shit there is alot a little money gathered up from alot of people pooler together could do to lift people with nothing up.

A DU homless shindig..a huge ass party to give a break to those who could use one the most...

Think about it..

[MetaTrope]

59. But did you figure in the salaries?

http://keyetv.com/austincharitysalaries/

[derbstyron]

38. Things like this manage to make a cynic like me smile.

:)

[sleipnir]

41. Lord Bush declares this event to be UnAmerican.

From the BushBot:

"She should have charged the homeless a fee to attend and then made them clean up. How else would they learn the value of a good day's work? We must not give charity, as having a kind spirit was needed in the Depression, but now we must modernize humanity."






-wouldn't be surprised to see this as an actual quote from Bush Co...

[NMMNG]

42. What a nice thing to do

:grouphug:

[Rainscents]

44. How in the world I missed this story? I live here in Everett... Oh, forgot

I don't watch TV nor do I read local(Republican) paper.

This is such a heart warming story and thank you for sharing with us!

O8) O8) O8)

[ribrepin]

45. Oh, come on, the Everett Herald is not a Republican paper

The story was reported in the Herald today:
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/06/29/100loc_muhlstein001.cfm

It's a feel good story and I am proud that it happened in my neck of the woods.

[ClayZ]

47. Howdy Neighbors...

My neck of the woods too. Glad to be in a blue state even though Everett is home to a lot of trucks with flags and guns... heheheh

[ribrepin]

64. Howdy Neighbors

:hi:

There are a lot of pick-ups with flags and guns, but I'd rather be here than a lot of places.

[Rainscents]

57. They endorsed Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush Jr 2000... but not in 2004.

During 2004 election, their coverage on Kerry wasn't very good even thou they endorsed Kerry. I canceled the paper and never renewed again.

Howdy Neighbors back to you! :hi:

[ribrepin]

65. Howdy Neighbor

[Swamp Rat]

46. Very nice story n/t

[malaise]

48. Apparently MSM doesn't think so

not a word from one of them. No surprise.

[supernova]

49. Wonderful story!

:cry: :grouphug:

[myrna minx]

50. THAT is a display of American values.

What a wonderful family. :hug:

[dhinojosa]

54. Hear hear

Good stuff

[MaineDem]

51. Where's the movie of the week?

The book deals? The People magazine money? What, this isn't news???
:eyes:

Good for the Hoskings! This is terrific.

[meganmonkey]

52. We don't celebrate people who do GOOD things and help people

in the US of A, don'tcha know.

:(

[Midlodemocrat]

53. What a great story!

[Brooklyn Michael]

55. BIG Smile

I needed a story like that today. How very, very cool of them.

[RPM]

56. assuming the food would otherwise go to waste, that is a nice gesture...

But Parties for the homeless may not be the best use of a spare $70,000. Not trying to be a poop, but feeding folks for more than one night might be a better use of the money. Of course, it seems here that it would have otherwise gone to waste, so i guess this is more to address the post above regarding the "DU party for the Homeless"

Cool story.

[Maeve]

61. Luke 14, verse12-14

He said to the one who had invited him: "Whenever you give a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or wealthy neighbors. they might invite you in return and thus repay you. No, when you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind. You should be pleased that they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the reusrrection of the just."

[Obamarama]

62. E-MAIL THE LINK TO THE MSM AND DEMAND THEY COVER....

I just sent FOX, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC emails with a link to the article and challenged them to cover THIS as a contrast to the ridiculous Jennifer Willbanks fiasco-cum-news fest they bludgeoned the airwaves with.

Anyone else with me?

[Lilyhoney]

63. Thank you for the warm fuzzies. n/t

[Kathryn STone]

66. that is the coolest! you go girl! if you're gonna dump him anyways...nm

[othermeans]

67. Do you think she'll get a book deal? You know like the runaway bride

[Lizzie Borden]

68. Way to go!