Jessica Bright spent her Christmas afternoon in the kitchen surrounded by family and friends.
But not her own kitchen. Instead, the 2011 Falls High School graduate packed up ham, hot stuffing and mashed potatoes from the Community Christmas Day Dinner at the Roadhouse nightclub, helping to feed about 700 people and provide them with companionship on a day centered around family and giving.
“I delivered food to one man who told me today was hard for him,” she said Wednesday. “I was glad I was able to help make his day better.”
Bright, along with several other volunteers, including her family members, helped make the eighth annual dinner the success that it was, said organizer Lee Grim.
“It makes for the best Christmas you could ever have,” he said of the event. “That is what Christmas is all about – a community of people wanting to do something for other people.”
Wearing a festive holiday sweater, Bright said this was her first year volunteering, but it is something she’s always wanted to do.
“As we get older, it gets harder and harder to find the magic that used to come with Christmas,” she said. “But when you are helping other people find it, that’s where the magic comes from. Making that man smile after he told me he was having a hard day is exactly what I’m talking about – that’s the magic.”
LeRoy Winkel said his family has turned volunteering for an hour at the dinner into a Christmas Day tradition.
“We’ve volunteered for about four years,” he said. “It’s just fun and an opportunity to give back to the community.”
Winkel said after all the gifts are ripped open Christmas morning, the day transforms into “any other day,” but traveling to the Roadhouse to volunteer turns an ordinary afternoon into an extraordinary one.
“It’s what Christmas is all about,” he said of the event. “There is good food, good friends and so much activity. It’s a social event. It fulfills the day.”
Grim said about 400 people attended the dinner and another 300 takeout meals were either sent out with people or delivered to them. Attendees ranged from big families to people who attended because they had no one else to spend the holiday with.
“We had very little food left over,” he said. “That is always a good thing.”
In addition, Grim said $2,350 was collected in donations and will be given to the Falls Hunger Coalition.
“We live in a great community,” he concluded. “There was a lot of joy in the air yesterday.”
