Extra

Hundreds of homeless people will be given free meals this Thanksgiving in a second annual dinner hosted by a 13-year-old boy who was inspired to help the needy after receiving a liver transplant. 

Michael "Mikey" Carraway, Jr. became very ill at age 11, in 2008, and was told he needed a liver transplant. 

After receiving a liver from a 15-year-old donor, Malik Grayson, who was a Berkeley shooting victim, Mikey thought helping others was a good way to pay forward this act of kindness. 

"He felt like this was a group that was really in need and it was a way that he could make a difference," said Kathy Clark, a coordinator for the California Transplant Donor Network, an organization working with Mikey. 

Clark received a liver transplant in 2005 and was touched when Mikey wanted to get involved with the organization. 

"This 13-year-old is having just a huge impact on the community," she said. "His mom asked him, 'What do you feel like doing for Christmas?' He said he wanted to help the homeless." 

The event, called Mikey's Meals, will be held Thursday at Fitzgerald Park near 34th and Peralta streets from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Almost 300 of Berkeley's homeless are expected to attend. 

Mikey's Meals receives support from Oakland Firefighters Random Acts, Alliance Recycling, McClymonds High School Basketball Team, and Oasis Pamper Bar.