Free breakfast and dinner available for less fortunate on Christmas Day

The less fortunate will be able to enjoy a warm breakfast and dinner on Christmas day in Nanaimo.

The 7-10 Club Society is hosting its annual free breakfast on Dec. 25 from 9 a.m. until noon at their club’s location, 285 Prideaux St. Breakfast will feature scrambled eggs, sausage and juice.

Later on that day, the 7-10 Club will also be hosting its annual free Christmas dinner at Generations Church, 1300 Princess Royal Ave., from 3-7 p.m. Dinner will consist of turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes and vegetables. Rides are available to Generations Church for anyone who cannot get there on their own.

“It’ll be the same as every year. It will be the full meal deal,” said Gord Fuller, chairman of the 7-10 Club Society.

Fuller has been with the 7-10 Club for 14 years and during that time he’s helped organize many Christmas Day breakfasts for the less fortunate. In 2014, Fuller and the 7-10 Club started offering dinners to people on Christmas Day after it became clear that no other organization would be able to provide a hot meal.

Fuller said it doesn’t take much to organize a Christmas dinner.

“A lot of people think it takes a lot of money and stuff to run something like this but the monetary value is negligible once you get people starting to donate turkeys and baked goods. For $500 to $1,000 you can put on really good Christmas dinner for a few hundred people,” he said. “It is well worth the cost.”

Although Christmas dinner is being held at Generations Church, Fuller said the free dinner is available for all.

“It’s a time of the year that everybody celebrates,” he said. “Even though we are at Generations Church, everybody of every faith is welcome.”

The former city councillor said while he enjoys volunteering and organizing breakfasts and dinners on Christmas Day, it gets harder year after year.

“You end up seeing a lot of the same people, but then what you end up seeing is the generations of families,” he said. “You’ll end up seeing people who were kids when you first saw them and when they first started coming to the 7-10 Club and now, years later, you’re seeing them with kids.”

Fuller said the people who attend the breakfasts and dinners hosted by the 7-10 Club are good people who are trying their best to get by in a sad situation. He said an increasing number of people are living in poverty in Nanaimo, adding that it is not just people experiencing homelessness, but also those who are working and cannot make ends meet.

“There are more and more people living in poverty with minimum-wage, part-time jobs,” he said. “So, it’s not just the homeless. It’s the working poor and more and more seniors. It’s sad.”

For more information on either event or to arrange a ride to Generations Church, please contact Fuller at 250-797-0531.