Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada hosted a Christmas rib meal at St. Vincent’s Dining Room in downtown Reno on Christmas Day.
In partnership with the Nugget Casino, they provided 1,500 rib meals for their annual Christmas gathering.
Marie Baxter, CEO of Catholic Charities Northern Nevada, stated that this event is highly cherished in the community.
“This is one of the most meaningful things I get to do. As I told my children when I left today – thank you for sharing your mom with people who are experiencing homelessness and families who have nowhere else to go on Christmas Day,” said Catholic Charities Northern Nevada CEO Marie Baxter.
Baxter states that The Nugget Casino and Catholic Charities have worked together to provide meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas for over thirty years.
“It’s actually kind of fun because at Christmas it’s usually ribs and mac-n-cheese, and potatoes because they have a lot of ribs that they purchase for a significant event over Labor Day {Nugget Reno Rib Cook Off: Best in the West} so they hold onto a lot of those and they prepare them and serve them in our dining room,” explained Baxter.
Ed Laroque has volunteered at the St. Vincent Dining Room for Catholic Charities’ Christmas Gathering for five years. He also participates in several weekly events hosted by Catholic Charities that provide a variety of resources for the community.
“I come on Tuesday, and we serve lunches. We’re doing about 750 to 800 lunches a day. I also work at our St. Margerites Resource Hub, which provides resources for those needing medical assistance, ID cards, or clothing. We also have a pantry where we give away food boxes,” said volunteer Ed Laroque.
We spoke with several people enjoying the rib meal. Baxter informed us that approximately 900 guests were expected for the busiest meal at St. Vincent’s Dining Room. Any uneaten rib meals were delivered to the Reno Cares Campus for lunch.
St. Vincent Dining Room prepared 4,500 meals, which were distributed to local homeless shelters in the region.