By Hayley Ferguson

Happy Holidays

Kiwanis Club hosting 39th annual Christmas dinner for those alone

Dec 24, 2019 | 7:20 AM

Medicine Hat, AB – With just days to go, people across the city are hitting the grocery stores one last time and starting to prep their Christmas dinners.

That isn’t the case for everybody though.

That’s why the Kiwanis Club of Medicine Hat is hosting its annual Christmas Dinner once again to make sure everybody has the chance to have a good turkey dinner and be social.

An event they have hosted since 1980.

John John, the coordinator says that they have already had 153 registered for the meal, but expects more to come.

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“We don’t say no to anybody,” he smiled.

While the dinner is now hosted in collaboration between the Gas City, Golden K, and Kiwanis Club of Medicine Hat, John says that the most important part is the volunteers.

“We’ve got about 70 volunteers coming in, it’s excellent. We are never short on volunteers. And volunteers contribute a lot. So we are very fortunate to have a lot of volunteers coming in,” he said.

The Kiwanis Club of Medicine Hat president, Ken Murdock added that they also have 60 volunteers to help drive people to the event.

“What I like is how much community involvement we have in this program,” he said. “It’s so fulfilling to see these people give up their Christmas Day in order to be able to help people that are lonely or do not have the ability to be able to have a proper Christmas dinner on their own.”

The dinner will be held at the Cypress Centre thanks to the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, with doors opening at 11 a.m. with the meal served an hour later.

Both Murdock and John say that they are extremely thankful as well for the businesses making donations such as South County Co-Op, Medicine Hat Lodge, Nutters Bulk & Natural Foods, Redcliff Bakery, and Shooting Star Events.