Preparations begin for annual Christmas dinner

Preparations are officially underway for the upcoming 7th annual Christmas dinner. The meal is held in Windsor, thanks to Greg Lemay and Macro Foods.

According to the group, they have enough food to feed more than 2,000 people in need during the holiday season.

However, if there are more who haven’t reached out, you can register online.

I want to make sure that people aren't missing this,” Lemay said.

“We only have until the Dec. 15 to get this done. And the reason for that is because of the logistics behind it and trying to get all the food ready and everything prepped, and addresses sorted and how many drivers I need. So, we’ve got to give it a little time so we can get all those things sorted out.”

Lemay said over 1300 pounds of turkey is set to be cooked, noting inflation has driven preparation costs upwards by nearly $7,000 this year.

“There's about $700 in gravy, there's 600 boxes of stuffing and 150 cans of cranberries and everything that comes with it. So, without the donors and without Macro Foods kitchen, it's impossible to do,” Lemay explained.

“This outreach is important to continue. We're going to do it as long as we can, as long as the demand and supply and the people are there to help.”

Last year, 1,500 people were fed.

“The first two years it was around 300. The third year was 623, then it was 1,000, then 1,500 and now we're increasing here again to 2,000. Obviously, the supply and demand, the demand is there. It's just like I said, I think we're having a little bit of an issue here reaching out and giving people an opportunity to request the meal that, that absolutely need one.”

If you are in need of a meal and haven’t registered yet, you can do so by emailing [e-mail].