WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) — The Eagles Club 251 Free Christmas Dinner continued their five-year volunteer-based event of feeding hearts and stomachs on Christmas Day by handing out drive-up meals.
As of about noon on Christmas Day, around 600 meals were already given to those who went through the drive-thru. They had prepared enough food to feed 1,000 with the event running until 3 p.m., or while supplies last.
Eagles Club member and event Chairperson Lynn Loss was joined by about 50 others to put on the feat, including 40 volunteers who were not a part of the Eagles Club.
“The people in this community are wonderful as you can see. You know, they’re working hard, most of them have been here since 8:30 this morning,” said Loss.
Some volunteers knew they wanted to help out well in advance and had planned their Christmas Day around helping others.
“I planned way ahead of time because I knew that I would be here by myself this Christmas, so just like, let’s go celebrate some cheer with other people,” said Ark Rhowmine, a volunteer and Eagles Club member.
Rhowmine said he was doing it because he knew it would help people who really needed it.
“This helps everybody along, and they can still enjoy a good holiday,” said Rhowmine.
Loss said her favorite part of the event is seeing the people who will enjoy the meal which takes about 30 hours of preparation.
“Seeing the people drive up lets you know that we’re really doing something for somebody else. That’s about it. Makes you feel good,” said Loss. “And the smiles and the thank yous, because you know everybody’s so happy when they come through, we get so many ‘thank yous’ and ‘thank you for doing this’ and you know we’re doing it because we want to do something for somebody else… Isn’t that what Christmas is about? It really is.”
The event started in 2020 when the local 2510 Restaurant could not host its Christmas Dinner due to social distancing and the layout of the restaurant. Loss said tehsaw this as an opportunity to do some good and help fill the community’s needs.
This year, the Emmerich Properties Charitable Trust joined the Wausau Eagles Club to sponsor the event.
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