NYSSA – Update: The Nyssa Christmas dinner is on.
Volunteers have stepped up to save Nyssa’s community Christmas dinner, which faced cancellation due to a lack of help.
The free hot meal will be served after all at the Nyssa Senior Citizens Center on Monday, Dec. 25, from 3 to 5 p.m.
It’s a turn-around from last week, when organizer Lori Rae said she had just one volunteer signed up. Without a minimum of six people to help, she would need to cancel the event.
The Enterprise published an online story about her predicament on Dec. 18. After that, Rae said, her phone began “blowing up” with offers of help.
As of Tuesday, Dec. 19, she said 10 volunteers had signed up.
The event, open to people of all ages, is exclusively planned and organized by Rae. While the dinner will be at the senior center, for both sit-down and delivery, the center is not involved in planning the community dinner.
Rae said she had planned to wait until Wednesday to make the call on whether to cancel the event. But by Tuesday night, she told the Enterprise that the inbox on her phone “was full” of messages of offers to assist with the event.
Not only that, but she said she was still calling people back who had offered to donate food for the community dinner.
“It makes me feel so much better,” she said. “I did not want to cancel.”
Rae said the Nyssa Police Department is preparing to deliver meals to people unable to attend in person. Delivery orders must be placed by calling 541-709-8463 by Sunday, Dec. 24. Rae said the dinner boxes should be delivered by 2:30 p.m.
Vale dinner coming up
In, Vale the Vale Feast Group will sponsor a free Christmas dinner Dec. 25 from noon to 2 p.m.
The dinner will be at the Vale Christian Church, 450 A St. West.
This year the menu will include ham and roast beef and “all the fixings,” said Feast Group member Cathy Zacharias.
The Feast Group also sponsors the free Thanksgiving dinner. This year, said Zacharias, 224 meals were served at Thanksgiving.
In 2022, the Feast Group served 140 meals at the Thanksgiving dinner and 200 at the Christmas event.
Zacharias the jump in the number of people seeking a holiday dinner resolves around need.
“Part of it is also we got the word out sooner this year,” she said.
Everyone is welcome to the dinner, said Zacharias.
For more information contact Zacharias at 541-216-1839.
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