OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Shiequane Johnson Burks, locally known as 'Fat Mamaa,' celebrates MLK Jr Day the best way she knows how– cooking food and giving back to the community.
- Burks held a free meal on Monday, Jan. 19 in celebration of MLK Jr Day.
- Community members enjoyed sandwiches and chips.
- Burks has held multiple free community meals at her restaurant, including for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“On this day right here, I'm like he’s full of love, I'm full of love," Burks says.
The smell of barbeque and the sounds of community fill Fat Mamaa's Po Boyz on Monday.
“I can feel the love when I come in here," Lamont Guidry, a Fat Mamaa's customer, says.
People took a break from the cold to sit down for a warm meal.
“People love food and there’s a lot of people out here that can’t be fortunate like we are to have a meal everyday," Burks says.
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Burks handed out free meals to the community, in honor of MLK Jr Day.
“He was a leader, he’s a powerful person, he’s a man full of love," she says. "He wanted this world to come together and be in peace and love one another, so God put it on my heart to do it, so that’s just what I wanted to do.”
Those who came were happy to enjoy Burks's cooking.
“She does this because she loves doing it, and we love coming here because she loves doing it," Guidry says.
“She makes you feel like you’re at home when you come here," Marvelle King, a Fat Mamaa's customer, says.
For Burks, giving back to the community is a higher calling.
“I don’t have much, but what I do have is life," she says. "God wakes me up every day, so when he wakes me up every day, it’s my mission to help people as much as I can.”
