Canceled wedding leads to heartwarming gift for Sacramento homeless

90 homeless individuals were fed a four-star meal

After a last-minute wedding cancellation, the bride-to-be's parents were left with a non-refundable wedding reception at one of Sacramento's finest venues. Rather than accepting the loss, the bride's mother, Kari Duane, decided to turn events around and offer the city's homeless a chance to enjoy the meal of a lifetime.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Duane family invested $35,000 in their daughter's wedding and reception at Sacramento's Citizen Hotel. Unfortunately, 27-year-old and bride-to-be Quinn was forced to admit her fiancé had called off the wedding. 

KCRA reported Kari Duane saying, "When I found out on Monday that the wedding would not be taking place, it just seemed like, of course, this would be something that we would do to give back."

Quinn opted to remain home, however Kari waited in the banquet hall at Sacramento's Citizen Hotel for anyone who was hungry to arrive. 

Nearly an hour before food was to be distributed, a woman living in a shelter with others too old to work and too poor to pay rent, arrived. 

Duane admitted, "I was thinking at that moment, if she's the only person that comes tonight, this was worth it."

Kari was not disappointed with the turnout. 90 homeless individuals and families arrived, including Rashad Abdullah with his wife and five children. They ate their fill and were grateful for it. "When you're going through a hard time and a struggle for you to get out to do something different and with your family, it was really a blessing," he said.

Abdullah's wife, Erika Craycraft, expressed her appreciation and her empathy for the bride by saying, "To lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is really giving, really kind."

The food served was the same as the hotel's four-star restaurant and included salad, cauliflower, gnocci, salmon and tri-tip. There was enough food to feed 120 guests and it was divided among the 90 homeless people who came to the free event.

Tamera Dotson, a homeless mother, said, "This is not coming out of our kitchen. We love our chef Leo, but he wouldn't be preparing nothing like this."

Kari was happy to help Sacramento's needy but "felt a lot of heartache and heartbreak for" Quinn, "but I will take away something good for this, I will," Kari admitted.

The non-refundable $35,000 included a honeymoon to Belize that Kari and Quinn plan to visit together.

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