Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com
Helen Andraitis, right, of Willoughby gets a big helping of sliced apples from Bridget Douglas, 9, of Willoughby during the Willoughby United Methodist Church Christmas dinner Sunday.
Thanks to some last-minute work by members of the Willoughby United Methodist Church, Christmas Day was a little brighter for some Lake County residents.
The church hosted a community dinner Sunday afternoon. With plenty of volunteers and community members ? not to mention food ? at the event, it's hard to believe just two weeks ago it wasn't even planned.
Kim Hayes, who co-chaired the event alongside Marty Kreger, said it was the Rev. Don Perks who asked the church council to pray about doing something on Christmas for those in need.
While she knew it would be a challenge to pull the dinner together in a matter of days, especially over the holidays, the council nonetheless agreed it was something that should be done.
"We have people from the community who were alone for the holidays, who didn't have an opportunity or couldn't afford to make dinner, so we opened our doors," Hayes said. "Everybody felt this was something we were being called to do."
The dinner itself ? a full, traditional holiday meal with ham, potatoes, green beans and plenty of Christmas cookies ? was a blessing for friends Darlene Wilson and Jean Woods.
The ladies said they'd heard about the meal and came to check it out. Wilson, who lives in Willoughby, said it was one of the best meals she'd had in some time. The hard work of the UMC volunteers wasn't lost on her.
"These people basically gave up their Christmas, so we could have one," Wilson said.
Aside from the food, the sense of community and family was much appreciated by Woods, who lives in Eastlake. Continued...
"I felt at home; everyone was very welcoming," Woods said. "I'm glad they had some room in the inn for us."
There was more than enough room, and food, for everyone. By the time the meal ended, UMC volunteers were asking community members to take food home with them.
With one year now under its belt, the church hopes the community Christmas dinner will grow into a yearly tradition.
"We had an OK-sized crowd," Hayes said. "We hope this becomes an annual thing and continues to expand and grow to be even better in the future."
Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5663289371
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