Pastor Phil Johnson of Osoyoos Baptist Church has been busy with a team of church volunteers preparing for the church’s annual community Christmas dinner, as well as delivery of hampers through the Osoyoos Food Bank. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Osoyoos Baptist Church is again making sure that Christmas brings special meals and that nobody goes without.
The annual community Christmas dinner is once again planned for Christmas day, and through the Osoyoos Food Bank, the church is again distributing food hampers.
The dinner that will be held on Sunday, Dec. 25 is intended for anyone in the community and not just the most needy.
The food hampers, on the other hand, are for those struggling to make ends meet – either regular food bank users or those registered with the Kiwanis “Share the Christmas Spirit” program.
Pastor Phil Johnson says the Christmas dinner in the past has ranged from 125 to 200 people attending.
“We usually plan for 150 to 180,” he said.
The dinner includes turkey and ham with pie for dessert.
The dinner is free, though there is a collection box if people wish to contribute, Johnson said.
“We try to make it for anybody who would like to come,” he said. “Some people are alone. We’ve had snowbirds in the past. Sometimes seniors are on their own, or couples. We’ve had families who come to show that there’s more to Christmas than just presents. It’s creating a place and a time where people can celebrate Christmas together and not on their own, be they rich or poor or single or family. Everybody is welcome.”
The dinner is in the church basement and the tables are set up in four long rows so people can socialize, said Johnson.
Although people are encouraged to let the church know ahead of time that they plan to come, it’s not required.
“It helps us get a grasp on numbers,” said Johnson.
There’s a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for a dinner that size and the work began in November.
“We have volunteers who are already working on it, getting pies together,” said Johnson. “The grocery stores have been outstanding in their support. We have people who bake turkeys and they bring the turkeys to the church and it’s cut up and ready for Christmas day.”
Both Buy-Low Foods and AG Foods provide much of the Christmas day menu both with food donations and sales of turkeys and hams at a good price.
Merle Hein, who oversees the kitchen, ensures that the previously prepared food is warmed up and ready to go in time for the dinner.
Johnson said there are about 20 volunteers from the church who work in the lead-up to the event.
“Then on Christmas day we usually end up with some new volunteers from the community wanting to help,” he said. “That’s when our church family steps back a little bit.”
Johnson said the Osoyoos Baptist Church was already holding the community Christmas dinners when he arrived in Osoyoos from the North Okanagan in 2003.
“I had never heard of a Christmas dinner actually being done on Christmas day, whether it be for homeless or other people,” he recalled. “When I saw it was on Christmas day, I thought this is phenomenal and this is the way it should be.”
Johnson said it also makes sense to provide the dinner to the broader community because the number of homeless or perilously housed people in Osoyoos is relatively small.
Those who do receive a food hamper from the food bank are encouraged to come to the Christmas dinner and to save the turkey or ham in their food hamper for another day, he said.
Johnson said the Osoyoos Food Bank, which is run by the Baptist church, has been receiving both food and cash donations.
They prepare a menu for the food hamper, choose donated food that is appropriate and then buy additional items such as small boxes of chocolates.
They include items for a Christmas breakfast, such as a pancake mix, and things like a pie filling and vegetables to supplement a Christmas dinner.
The Turkey Farmers of B.C. contribute a donation to buy turkeys, Johnson said.
The food bank will distribute about 100 hampers on Dec. 22, Johnson said.
Because Christmas falls on a Sunday, the Christmas service has been moved up to 10 a.m. Johnson said everyone is welcome to attend.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
