By Danielle Kutchel
Families in need were given the gift of a Christmas lunch to round out 2020 on a positive note.
Cornerstone Church held its annual Christmas lunch on Tuesday 22 December, offering its community the chance to come together and make the best of what has, for many, been an exceptionally cruel year.
CEO of Cornerstone, Naomi Paterson, said the church saw a “broader community” than usual attend the event, including families with young children and refugee families – people who had been hit hard by the closures, job losses, stretched services and lack of financial assistance associated with Covid shutdowns.
But for a couple of hours on that Tuesday afternoon, the 90 attendees were able to forget their troubles and fill their bellies with Christmas fare, and their hearts with festive joy.
Members of the Rotary Club of Greater Dandenong and Endeavour Hills, the local Lions Club and Friends of the Children all chipped in to provide cooked meals for guests.Music and bon-bons added to the Christmas feel.
After the event, attendees were given food hampers to take home, to get them through the season.
The hampers were filled by the three service organisations and contained goodies from The Pudding Lady and Magic Moments Basket Brigade.
Friends of the Children president and founder Shashi Kochhar said his organisation’s help at the event was a continuation of their service to Cornerstone.
Friends of the Children has been providing staple foods to Cornerstone for some time now.
He said it was all about teamwork, for the good of the whole community.
“From community, to community, by community,” he said.
