photo by: Lauren Fox

Camille Debreczeny, left, scoops green bean casserole as a volunteer at the Community Christmas Dinner on Dec. 25. In the background, at right, Kathleen Weber helps distribute turkey.

Knowing Christmas would be quieter than usual this year at their homes, Betty Ruhlen and Kathleen Weber spent their morning and afternoon volunteering for the first time at Lawrence’s annual Community Christmas Dinner.

“It was just going to be a quiet Christmas at home with nobody, and I just thought that it would be nice to come down here and help people out,” Weber said.

When people started streaming in on Friday around noon to pick up the free Christmas meals, the two women worked together to add turkey and gravy to plates.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Kathleen Weber, left, and Betty Ruhlen, right, both volunteered at the Community Christmas Dinner for the first time on Dec. 25, because they said they weren’t getting together with their families. They help serve turkey in the basement of First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St.

The Community Christmas Dinner was set up differently this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, around 400 people gather in the basement of First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St. This year, there was no indoor dining option. Most meal recipients elected to either have their food delivered to them or to pick up their meals to go between noon and 2 p.m. on Friday. Only a handful grabbed their meals and then ate outside.

It was cold on Friday afternoon, around 30 degrees, but there were outdoor tables set up on the sidewalk in front of the church, as well as heaters borrowed from Global Cafe.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Lawrence residents enjoy a Christmas meal outside First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St, on Dec. 25.

Barbaraellen Wilson decided to eat outside. She said she enjoyed her meal, which included turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls and pie. It wasn’t her first time going to the community event, and even though this year was different, she said she still had a nice time.

“It’s a very good experience, people getting together each year,” Wilson said. She said she wanted to get the meal in person so she could eat while surrounded by others and so she could thank the volunteers.

Wilson also had some extra packaged meals next to her. She said she was planning on giving out the meals to people she ran into later that day.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Barbaraellen Wilson said she wanted to pick up her meal in person in order to thank the volunteers and eat surrounded by other members of the community.

Melinda Stofferahn, who also ate outside on Friday, said she loves Christmas and goes to the community dinner every year. She said she comes to eat with her friends, and that her favorite part of the meal is the stuffing and potatoes.

Food preparation for the event began on Tuesday, coordinator Deb Engstrom said, and overall, volunteers prepared about 1,200 portions of food. In the last few days, Engstrom said she’s had about 60 volunteers who helped the food distribution go smoothly.

On Friday morning, 868 meals were delivered throughout Douglas County by about 50 volunteer delivery drivers. And by the time the in-person food distribution was over, Engstrom had the final count: 1,137 meals.

Engstrom has been volunteering at the Community Christmas Dinner for the past 27 years: “It’s just become my Christmas tradition,” she said. “For me, it’s just really important that people have something special for a holiday. And for some people, this is the only human contact they have on the holiday.”

photo by: Lauren Fox

Deb Engstrom has volunteered at the Community Christmas Dinner for the past 27 years, and she’s been organizing it for the past eight years.

Like volunteers Weber and Ruhlen, Ann Spangler said this was her first time volunteering at the event. Usually she and her husband go to Kansas City for the holidays, but not this year. Instead, they both decided to volunteer at the Community Christmas Dinner.

“We’re just aware of what the need is, and it was a way to respond,” she said. “I mean, this is really what Christmas is about.”