First United Methodist makes 700 Christmas meals
While others opened presents on Christmas morning, Ray Christy headed the kitchen and coordinated First United Methodist Church’s efforts to make more than 700 meals for members of the community in need.
Members of First United Methodist Church have held their Christmas Day dinner for 28 years now. Ray and his wife, Chase, were two of nearly 200 volunteers at the church Christmas morning.
Thirteen drivers traveled back and forth on different routes to drop off meals to those who reached out ahead of time, while others could come and pick up their meal from the church. The meals were made for anyone who needed one.
While Ray decided the menu and tried to streamline the cooking and packing process in the Methodist church’s kitchen, volunteers put in hours of work this week to make the Christmas gesture happen.
“I think there’s a community of people here who want to give back. We’ve had volunteers working on Monday for six hours, Tuesday for six hours, and today will be another eight or 10 hours,” Chase said. “They’re just here because they want to make sure everybody has a meal. We do a lot at the different senior apartment complexes around town, and the people who deliver there, they’ll go to each apartment and talk to them. But they like to feed people.”
This year, the meals consisted of ham, corn, scalloped potatoes and sweet potatoes, along with coleslaw, apples, oranges and bread rolls. The chefs also made pie, while several church members donated cookies and candy canes. Every container came with a Christmas card wishing its recipient a season’s greetings from First United Methodist.
Many of the volunteers have given their Christmas morning to prepping meals at the church for numerous years. Robert Kummer helps with community meals at the church on most Fridays, and also has helped out the past couple years with cooking meals. He said he enjoys being with his church friends and helping others.
“My favorite part is probably just the gratitude. And seeing everyone and making friends while helping others, doing something meaningful. It’s a great group, and we all work well together,” Kummer said. “It’s a wonderful event. It’s a wonderful thing to do, and you should try it.”
The group of Christmas morning volunteers has continued to grow over the years. Joyce Cranmer and Jeanie Springer, who met each other at a grief group, learned of the event at the group from several First United Methodist members. After Cranmer volunteered at a Thanksgiving event, she convinced Springer to come help pack meals.
“There’s a great camaraderie here. The people in charge, they really know what they’re doing. And it feels so good to be giving. There’s too many people out there who don’t have what some of us have. And to bring this meal to save the tears, they may appreciate that,” Cranmer said.
