Tauranga community dinner at St Peters happens with volunteers stepping up to the plate

Volunteers Kate Johansson (left) and Spencer Penman, 17. Photo / George Novak

Three times the number of people needed volunteered to help serve up a special dinner at St Peters' annual Community Christmas Dinner.

To maintain the church's 31-year tradition, the St Peters' team planned to box meals for pick-up should the country move in Covid-19 alert levels.

But Christmas magic meant the 200 people who registered were able to be served up a feast by volunteers, with enough food for 300.

Volunteers were made up of a total of 150 people who were split across crews that prepped the food and set up the tables.

Tireless hours were spent carving the hams and chickens, slicing the fruit and chopping the vegetables in the warm church kitchen.

Volunteer Kate Johansson was leading the prep team and said some of the women had been making meringues for the past six days, and a lot of food had been donated from the community.

Volunteers prepping the fruit salad. Photo / George Novak

She said many of the people who came for the feast were also regularly at the church's Tuesday lunches, so it was "like seeing family".

Organising for the event began in late October, which Johansson said had been "full-on".

And just like every other year, the response from the community reaching out to help had been "overwhelming", Minister Simon Mcleay said.

Three times the number of people needed for the unpaid work put up their hands to make someone else's Christmas a little more special.

Mcleay said the Christmas feast was more than a dinner - it was a sense of community with people from all walks of life coming together.

"It's the highlight of my day ... seeing people who might otherwise be on their own."

Tables were set for up to 300 diners. Photo / George Novak

The dinner itself was similar to previous years but with an underpinning of more hardship in the community, Mcleay said.

He said lockdown would have been especially difficult for people who were alone - often the singles and the elderly - and they were especially mindful of that this year.

Families were also hard-hit by the pandemic and struggling financially.

Overall coordinator Rose Chin said the "fantastic" team helped bring the dinner together year-on-year.

Some of the volunteers had been on the receiving end in the past and had devoted this time of the year to helping out.

Others offered to help because they had lost a loved one, or were spending Christmas alone.