It took 300 pounds of potatoes, 20 hams, 50 turkeys and time from the staff and volunteers to put on a successful Christmas meal at the Kelowna Gospel Mission.
“We want to create a real family-style comfort food atmosphere, with the pie and whip cream and all the little additions like the cranberry sauce,” kitchen manager Mandy Phillips said.
Phillips, with her team, served up more than 800 traditional Christmas dinners with all of the fixings.
“It’s a free meal and I get to talk to all these crazy people who are my friends,” said client Myrna.
“At the end of the day, just seeing my people enjoy themselves and having a meal together… I love seeing that,” said Phillips.
Randy Benson, executive director of the Kelowna Gospel Mission, said that the number of people they expected to serve speaks to the need in the community.
“A lot of people are living paycheque to paycheque and might not be able to afford a nice Christmas dinner like you and I so this gives them the opportunity to enjoy that,” said Benson.
The meal also gives the volunteers the opportunity to give back to their community during the holiday season.
“Around this time of year sometimes we get so busy in our lives and coming to the Gospel Mission it’s like a family,” said voluneer David Short.