The Samaritans Christmas Lunches at Newcastle, Central Coast and Wyong have been deemed once again a huge success with over 1650 guests on Christmas Day. All three events were managed by the various Event Co-ordinators with the incredible support of 200 volunteers.
The community came together to put a smile on the faces of those that need support, particularly on this special day. We were blessed with warm sunny weather and the smiles on the faces of our guests was heart-warming with gasps of delight and excitement as they were greeted with a warm welcome and a friendly smile.
The generosity of our sponsors was indeed beyond words amazing, and it allowed us to develop, plan and deliver three unique and well-orchestrated lunches that met the criteria of respect, kindness, togetherness, and most of all represented the spirit of this beautiful holy Christmas Day.
To give you a snapshot of the enormity of what it takes to pull an event of this size off, see below the equipment and food used across the 3 lunches:
- 350 picnic rugs
- 150 red tablecloths
- 500 chairs
- 200 tables
- 2000 gift and hamper bags
- 2000 pieces of chicken
- 1800 slices of ham off the bone
- 2000 bread rolls
- 1800 serves of coleslaw
- 1800 serves of potato salad
- 1800 serves of tossed salad
- 1000 serves of pudding complete with custard
- 1500 shortbread biscuits
- 1200 pieces of fruit
- 1000 bags of lollies
- 1000 packets of chips
- 800 soft serve ice cream served
- 4500 soft drinks and water
- 2500 gifts consisting of toys, ladies handbags, men’s packs, chocolates and more
On behalf of my colleagues – Deb, Sharyn and Michelle, I can wholeheartedly say that these events are a joy and we’re so grateful to be the Christmas Fairies once again in 2022 and look forward to planning even bigger and better lunches in 2023. Happy New Year to all.
