APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Many people in the Appleton area had a merrier Christmas.
Thanks to the time and effort of volunteers at a free Christmas lunch.
There was plenty of good food, good music, and holiday cheer at Sunday’s annual free Christmas lunch in Appleton. As always, anyone was welcome.
Appleton’s Steven Hunt spoke to WLUK.
“I don’t have any family members up here, so I decided to come here. Especially because I can’t cook, so I decided to come out and enjoy Christmas dinner.”
Ed Rathsack has been organizing these free holiday meals for over 30 years.
“Our goal is to make sure everybody has the opportunity for companionship and a meal. Holidays are terrible if you’re alone.”
Rathsack says it’s a miracle in and of itself that all this food and all these volunteers come together to make the event a success.
“We often wonder to ourselves how we pull it off. “To be able to give up your holiday to help somebody else, and help them with their loneliness is a great thing.”
Sunday was Shelby Knezel’s first time volunteering at the event. She says she’s glad she did it.
“The people, the music, the atmosphere, the fact that some people have worked extremely hard to put this all together. It’s very gratifying, and it makes me appreciate my community a lot.”
Not only can people come into the venue for a free meal, volunteers also deliver the meals to people’s homes.
The We Care Meals Group also does a free meal service on Easter.
They are currently seeking donations and volunteers for that event.
