Christmas dinner for 800 to be served at Kelowna’s Gospel Mission

Kelowna's Gospel Mission will serve its annual Christmas dinner tomorrow.

It will also mark the final dinner hosted by the Mission’s executive director, Randy Benson, who is retiring after 19 years in the job.

“Over the years I have been honoured to be part of this Christmas dinner,” Benson wrote in a news release.

“I have witnessed incredible changes in many lives. Former residents will come on this day to let us know how their lives have been transformed. Their stories are different but the theme is the same. I’m told, ‘your shelter took me in when we had no place to go, you gave me meals, you gave me a place to sleep and I probably would have died if I didn’t have the Mission.’”

The dinner will run tomorrow, Dec. 21, from noon to 6 p.m. at the Mission at 251 Leon Ave.

Anyone can attend and it’s free of charge.

More than 800 meals will probably be served. It will be a traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, rolls and pie topped with whipped cream.

Anyone wanting to help out or give an in-kind donation can visit Kelowna's Gospel Mission website here.

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