A Christmas Dinner trimmed with Hope

A hot turkey dinner with all the fixings was served to more than 160 friends in the neighbourhood at NightShift Street Ministries on Sunday, Dec. 15.  With live Christmas music, gifts, treats and Christmas trees, NightShift’s Education Room overflowed with the peace, joy and love of the Christmas season.

But the best trimming for NightShift’s Christmas Dinner was a sense of Hope. Celebrating the holidays with people who are struggling with homelessness, poverty, addiction and mental illness, means recognizing the hard times we might find ourselves in. This can be especially hard at Christmas time. That’s why we invited our guests to write down a “Christmas Wish” on a paper ornament for our holiday Hope Tree. This was an invitation to acknowledge great Hope for good things to come.

Thank you to our Christmas Dinner sponsors, our incredible team of volunteers who put in the hard work and poured out the love, and to everyone who has prayed for our friends on the street this Christmas. We are especially thankful for the One we celebrate at Christmas — Jesus, the Living Hope, Emmanuel, God with us.

Merry Christmas to all!