EDMONTON – It’s not hard to get caught up in the materialistic side of the holidays, and just as easy to forget those who may be struggling to just put together a Christmas dinner.
But there’s also no shortage of people working to make sure the city’s less fortunate are taken care of this time of year.
A number of volunteers spent much of their Christmas Eve preparing a turkey dinner that will be served at Boyle Street and the new Boyle Plaza on Christmas Day.
“We’re looking to feed hundreds of people, even thousands of people to come through these locations…with everything that we have,” said Rosa Ritzmann, the banquet coordinator for the Victory Christian Centre.
“It’s huge, because our community here is like family. And a lot of them are separated from their families, or don’t have families. And we are each other’s family here,” added Shannon Hebden with Boyle Street Community Services.
The 27th edition of the annual Christmas banquet will run from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The spirit of giving doesn’t end there, though.
On Tuesday afternoon, staff from Von’s Steak House paid a surprise visit to a local family, bringing with them a gourmet meal that included turkey, mashed potatoes and, of course, dessert.
“It was kind of nice to do that,” said Chef Shane Chartrand, who made the delivery with his pastry chef to a very appreciative Edmonton woman.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News
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