Wheeling, WV — St. Luke’s on the Island held their annual Christmas dinner on Wednesday, helping to serve the community.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church has been offering a free Christmas dinner to the public for nearly three decades, serving as a way to give back to the community, with volunteers arriving to set up at 8 in the morning.
“A great group of volunteers, we never know who’s going to be here,” said Rick Daugherty, event organizer. “My wife asks me every year the night before, are you sure we have enough volunteers? I always say the same thing I don’t know, because we don’t ask people to volunteer, they just come.”
Some are new volunteers, while others help out every Christmas, like David Kondrach, the original founder of the Wheeling Soup Kitchen, who says he loves lending a hand.
“I enjoy it, it’s something to do to help the community.,” said Kondrach. “It’s for some people that aren’t fortunate to be with family, it’s something to do to cheer them up for Christmas so that’s why I do it.”
Attendees could enjoy a variety of food items, from ham to pierogies, sweet potatoes, and more. Along with this, earlier in the week, people could also go to St. Luke’s to get free fruits and vegetables provided by Jebbias, who donates a full box truck every year to the community.
“On Monday we were able to give over 400 people, 30 to 40 pounds of vegetables to go home with. It’s amazing this place was completely full now we have a couple hundred pounds of potatoes left.” Daugherty said.
Event organizer Rick Daugherty has been planning the dinner for 28 years and says over 100 people were expected to attend this year, from those eating in to carry-out orders for the community. He hopes to continue doing it every Christmas.
“It’s a chance to demonstrate god’s love in a more practical way,” said Daugherty. “Were all pretty darn blessed, but some of us are more blessed than other so we want to make sure the people that come in feel blessed. We wait on them, we serve them, it’s a great feeling.”
The church says they hope to continue doing this annually.