![\"lemons\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/lemons1.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by CrayonMonkey via Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n
That’s exactly what Carol and Bill Fowler of Atlanta managed to accomplish last month, after their daughter’s wedding was cancelled six weeks shy of the meticulously planned ceremony.<\/p>\n
“My husband actually prayed about it,” Carol Fowler recalls. “The next morning he woke, I was in the process of canceling the venue, letting them know that we had no use for it, and he said, ‘No, we\u2019re going to call Hosea Feed the Hungry<\/a> and have them round up people from the shelters.'”<\/p>\n The Fowlers’ children had volunteered with Hosea Feed the Hungry, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that works to bolster families in need, so they knew it was just the place to turn for assistance.<\/p>\n Carol was crazy about the idea. After all, she says, “We were going to spend this money anyway!”<\/p>\n When the couple called Hosea Feed the Hungry, proposing an elaborate party for local homeless families, the organization was skeptical.<\/p>\n “At first I thought it was a prank call. I thought somebody was joking with us,” admits Elizabeth Omilami, Hosea’s chief executive officer.<\/p>\n But the Fowlers and Omilami wasted no time gathering a guest list of 200 people, most of them women with children, for an afternoon meal at Villa Christina, an upscale local restaurant.<\/p>\n Omilami arranged bus transport from three area shelters to the restaurant, where attendees were treated to fabulous food and lots of kid-friendly entertainment courtesy of a clown, juggler, and face painter.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Alvin Evans via Today.com<\/p><\/div>\n The whole Fowler family attended the celebration as well. “The feeling was one you cannot explain, to see the faces and hear their thank yous,” Carol commented. “[Our daughter] was also very delighted to see and know that others had an opportunity to enjoy something, rather than just allow it to go to waste.”<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Hosea Feed the Hungry via Here and Now<\/p><\/div>\n Julie Bilecky, sales and marketing director of Villa Christina, said, “Carol and Bill did a phenomenal job of giving back to the community. It could have been difficult situation, but everyone worked together to make it a different kind of party. It was fabulous.”<\/p>\n The event, which has become known as “The First Annual Fowler Family Celebration of Love,” was such a sweet success that the Fowlers hope to hold a similar affair year after year.<\/p>\n Carol credits divine intervention for the advent of a new Atlanta tradition. “We feel that this is something that God would like us to do because obviously, we did not set out to do this.”<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you think\u00a0transforming life’s lemons into lemonade is an inspiring feat, imagine converting an abandoned wedding reception into a joyous\u2014and charitable\u2014celebration. That’s exactly what Carol and Bill Fowler of Atlanta managed to accomplish last month, after their daughter’s wedding was … Continue reading <\/a><\/a>