MINTO – The third annual Andersons’ Community Christmas provided a holiday meal and social time for about 240 diners at the community centre in Palmerston on Christmas Day.
“It was a phenomenal success again,” councillor Jean Anderson reported at the Jan. 8 Minto council meeting.
“It was really good. We enjoyed it. It was great fun.”
Anderson, who organizes the Dec. 25 gathering with her husband Dave Anderson, Ward 1 Wellington County councillor, said in addition to the meals served at the hall about 85 meals were delivered to people who couldn’t attend for various reasons.
While the event is primarily about getting together for Christmas fellowship, Anderson said this year they also delivered turkeys and vegetables to eight families “that just needed help having meals.”
“It’s a little disturbing that there’s people that need food,” she said.
“The majority of the people who have come the past couple of years, they didn’t need the food.
“We just wanted to get them out of the homes.”
However, Anderson said, through connections with a Norwell District Secondary School group which also hosted a community Christmas dinner in December, they learned “there are kids who don’t have enough food, which is how we came about taking those hampers out.
“That’s a bit disturbing in our community to find, and I think we don’t know a lot about it,” she commented.
Anderson said roughly $3,500 in donations received at the dinner will be shared with local food banks and school breakfast programs will each receive $700 contributions.
“Clearly the need is there to provide food for those who don’t have enough in our community,” she said.
