She said due to the social distancing requirements and the size of the venue, 400 people who pre-registered would be sitting down to enjoy the Christmas luncheon, with doors opening at 11.30am and the main meal served from noon, followed by plenty of great entertainment.
“We originally set ourselves a maximum of 500 diners but we had to close off the numbers early because we cannot fit any more people into the venue. There is another 100 people on the waiting list, but they won’t miss out as they’ll be given take home packs,” she said.
Groot said tomorrow a team of 30 volunteers would begin preparing the venue for the festivities, setting up tables, putting up decorations and preparing the vegetables for the luncheon.
Among the donated food supplies were 20kg of spuds, 20 pumpkins, 40 loaves of bread for the Christmas stuffing, eight hams, eight pork rolls, 40 chickens and plenty of yummy desserts and other treats, including carrot cakes, walnut brownies, cheesecakes, apricot crumble, jellies and icecream, she said.
“And so many of our association members have donated money as well,” Groot said.
“So, no one is going to starve,” she said.
“I had a budget but because of the cost of food going up I exceeded it, but thanks to the wonderful Salvation Army, who came to the party with some Pak’nSave vouchers, we have been able to buy the last few supplies we needed.
“This has been a real community team effort to ensure those needing our support at Christmas time don’t miss out, and every year we’re blessed by some wonderful volunteers who help ensure this whole event is a great success.”
Entertainment includes local opera singers Alice Carrington and 16-year-old Nathan Pirika, and the Manaaki Ora Kapa Haka group, which includes some of the luncheon volunteers, she said.
Groot said some people also had contributed Christmas presents or decorations to the event and also wanted to thank the Rotorua Lakes Council for donating the use of facilities and some of their security and workers.
“Our team would also like to acknowledge their Christmas spirit. Without them, I think we wouldn’t be able to do this.
“I want to say a big, big thank you to all our amazing volunteers, all those who donated food and everyone else who has helped to make this event happen.”
Meanwhile, the Rotorua Salvation Army’s team of volunteers have also been serving up a little cheer to needy families in the district, delivering 300 Christmas hampers to individuals and families the organisation support or identified by other agencies.
About 20 volunteers began packing the hampers with many goodies last week.
Rotorua Salvation Army corps officer Hana Seddon earlier said some of the items in the hampers included pavlova, chicken, stuffing, Christmas treats, scorched almonds, fresh produce and some gifts.
“This is really important for whānau in the community because people have had a tough year, but they deserve to have a good Christmas, and this is a really simple way to make sure that people can celebrate, join in, and not be left out of what it means to celebrate Christmas together.”
Seddon said Kmart had been “very generous” and provided a lot of gifts to include with hampers, along with other people from the community who had come in with gifts or donated money to buy what was needed.
