It can be pretty easy in today’s world to lose sight of what Christmas is supposed to be all about.
While many of us are concerned about whether to buy the iPad or the Kindle Fire for our sweethearts, others are wondering where they’ll sleep tonight, or whether they’ll eat.
For those people, Christmas is often just another day. But in Concord, there’s another option: the Concord Community Holiday Dinner.
Every year on Christmas Day, the Grappone Center sponsors (and until this year, has hosted) the dinner, which is free and open to anyone who wants to attend. It’s meant to give people somewhere to go, something to do, something to eat, if only for a little while.
This year, for the first time, the dinner will be served at the Friendly Kitchen – which knows a thing or two about serving those in need. The Grappone Center, which has always hosted the event, is undergoing renovations and rather than scrap the meal, they decided to have it somewhere else.
“They asked us if we’d be willing to host it this year, and we said yes,” said Jennifer Lombardo, director of the Friendly Kitchen.
The Friendly Kitchen normally does not serve dinner on Christmas because of the community dinner at the Grappone Center, but this year it will be running on all cylinders – and then some.
“This is going to be much larger in numbers than we’re used to,” Lombardo said. The kitchen usually has a staff of about six volunteers, but this event calls for some more help, so Lombardo said there will be about 25 volunteers on hand to help with Christmas dinner.
They’ll be needed, as there’s likely to be a big crowd; last year’s meal drew about 250 attendees, so the folks at Friendly Kitchen are planning to serve about 300 this year.
If that sounds like a lot to you, it is. As it relates to the fire code, the Friendly Kitchen can only hold 114 people at a time. Because of this, there will be two seatings instead of one this year – one at 1 p.m. and the other at 2.
“There won’t be as much stuff going on as there would be at the Grappone Center because we don’t have the space for that,” Lombardo said. “Just a nice meal.”
She also stressed, “Everyone will get fed.”
As far as the meal itself, there will be a baked chicken dish, haddock, vegetables, potatoes and rice, and salads. Coca Cola is also donating some beverages, and Tarte Café & Bakery in Andover will donate some pastries, cookies and other desserts.
“A lot of the product was donated from Cisco,” Lombardo said.
“Our kitchen is still going to prep the food,” said Pamela Bissonnette of Foxfire Property Management, which owns the Grappone Center.
The meal is intended for those who don’t really have any other options, but there are no requirements – “no questions asked,” Lombardo said. This means that it isn’t just for the homeless – it’s for people who maybe can’t afford to spend a lot of money on a big holiday dinner, or people who don’t really have anyone to spend the day with. At the end of the day, anyone who wants to go will not be turned away.
“We’re just happy to help the Grappone Center,” Lombardo said of this brand-new partnership. “We’re very happy to step up and help them with that.”
The meals will be at 1 and 2 p.m. on Christmas Day at the Friendly Kitchen (2 S. Commercial St.). There is no charge and no signups or registration is required.
