Gayle Rondeel’s Christmas began at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 25 when she put a ham in the oven in preparation for a meal that would eventually feed around 70 people.
At around 8 a.m. Rondeel headed over the Rimbey Drop In Centre to see how plans were coming along for the Christmas dinner to be served later that afternoon.
This year as in the past, Rondeel and her trusty crew of volunteers worked very hard to make Christmas a special day for people who might otherwise end up spending the holiday alone. Thanks the selfless caring of about a dozen volunteers the Christmas dinner this year was once again a huge success.
“It went really well,” Rondeel said.
Rondeel has no problem with spending her Christmas Day volunteering for the annual dinner and not being home with her family.
“It’s just really enjoyable,” she said. “It’s fun preparing it, fun eating it and just being part of the whole thing.”
Rondeel’s husband and son also join in by helping out and later come by to enjoy Christmas dinner with the rest of the crowd. After Christmas the family went to Calgary to visit the older boys.
Rondeel said the crowd in attendance was about the same as last year and five dinners were delivered to shut ins.
Unfortunately, she noted there was less donations of money and food this year for the annual event.
“However, we had some good donations that pulled us through at the end,” she said.