The traditional sit-down Community Christmas Dinner in Cortez has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but hot meals will be available.
Hope’s Kitchen of the First United Methodist Church in Cortez has stepped up to cook 250 to-go meals and distribute them to a list of people hurting financially.
No meals will be available for the broader public.
Chef Pat Downey, Pastor Jean Schwien, church staff and the kitchen’s regular 12-person volunteer team will spend Christmas preparing and boxing up the hot meals for low-income clients. People with an invitation may pick up meals between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Christmas Day at 515 N. Park St.
Clients to receive meals were identified from social services, Grace’s Kitchen, Hope’s Kitchen, Good Samaritan Center and The Bridge Shelter, among other agencies.
“We don’t want people who need it most to miss out on a Christmas meal,” said Pastor Schwien.
The menu includes baked ham and all the sides, plus dessert and a candy cane.
Hope’s Kitchen is one of two soup kitchens in Cortez that serve meals year round to anyone who needs one.
The Cortez Walmart is providing half-price discounts on food items needed to cook up the holiday meal. Tuffy Security Products will provide the pies, and the Sharehouse Community Food Center is providing potatoes grown in the San Luis Valley, plus a cash donation.
“We all look forward to returning to the county annex building in 2021 to resume the sit-down dinner that brings so many people together in celebration,” said Sharehouse Director Laurie Hall.
For questions about this year’s Community Christmas Dinner, contact Pastor Jean Schwien at pastorjeanincortez@gmail.com
Cash donations to support Hope’s Kitchen meal center may be mailed to First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 1016, Cortez, CO, 81321