Organizers and volunteers once again have the satisfaction of knowing the unique Christmas dinner in 2020 was a success.
The event changed venues from the Pro-Cathedral to North Bay Memorial Gardens after the city gave the green light for permitting the move to the ice arena.
"We only had about 80 people come to sit down for their meal but we dished out 600 food containers," said Sylvia Antinozzi, chair of the annual Christmas Dinner committee.
"My team and volunteers were ready for any situation and everything went smoothly. COVID-19 was the culprit many organizations asked for take-outs instead of bringing their people in. Safety was observed by all."
See related: Annual Christmas Dinner moving to a bigger venue
Antinozzi also credits the city and the Gathering Place for helping the event run smoothly.
"I also wanted to say that without Al McDonald and Denis Chippa, I do not know what we would have done," she said.
Sylvia Antinozzi, Chair, Community Christmas Day Dinner Committee says they found out at the end of the summer the church would not be available as a site for the Christmas Dinner due to COVD-19.
Dennis Chippa, executive director at the Gathering Place, says they were asked to partner up this year to help deliver all the meals.
"It was an easy thing for us to do also with the uniqueness of COVID-19 to have the experience of putting together the 'to-go' meals and how a 'to-go' lineup works so we have a little bit of experience to add to that," explained Chippa prior to the Christmas day event.
Last year the Christmas feast fed more than 400 people.
