AUGUSTA – On a snowless Christmas day, locals volunteered at a church in Augusta to provide sustenance to hundreds of people who needed it.

People walked in the cold, wearing jackets and caps, to a small building adjoining the South Parish Congregational Church. In the parking lot, many waited in their cars to pick up their deliveries. Others stood in front of an open red door, waiting for the volunteers to hand them a paper bag filled with turkey, cranberry juice, corn, beans and a slice of pie.

“I have been coming for these community dinners for many years now,” said James Duling, 73, who waited outside with Jane, his wife. “The service is important for everybody. People need to be able to connect with other people and they shouldn’t be hungry, especially on Christmas. And the homeless people don’t have a place to go or eat. It’s important for them, too.”

The community dinner has been going on for over four decades.

“We are not an organization. We don’t have a name, just a community, where people come together and help others,” said Carlene Kaler, who has been helping organize the dinner for the past 12 years.

Kaler added that the storm last week that brought Maine to a standstill with howling wind and rain, widespread power outages and flooding, only heightened the need for this service.

“Only today, I served a couple of people who still didn’t have power at their places, so yes, this will help them,” said Kaler.

Inside the building, a hall with high ceilings smelled of freshly cooked corn and cranberry. The wooden floor creaked as volunteers, dressed in holiday green and red, walked around carrying bags and pushing trolleys. At the entrance, numerous paper bags sat on the floor, waiting to be delivered to addresses all over central Maine by volunteer drivers.

The group used to host people inside the building until COVID-19 changed that. Now, volunteers prepare bags of freshly cooked meals and hand them out to those who can make it to the venue. Those who can’t simply call and provide their address and phone number, and the food reaches their doorstep.

“We deliver to those who could not make it. I don’t ask why, it could be that they can’t drive or some other reason,” said Kaler. “We have delivered 270 meals today to people in Augusta, Hallowell, Farmingdale and Manchester.”

Paul and Joany Rhoda have been making these deliveries since 1995.

“Over the years, we have noticed that the deliveries we make have increased. We used to make 100 to 200 deliveries, now it’s more than that,” said Joany. “But people need this, and doing this brings even more meaning to the day rather than just opening presents.”

All the ingredients for the service were donated by Performance Food Service, a food service distributor in Augusta. Keith Priest is the volunteer chef who cooked the ingredients into a feast, as he has for the past 30 years.

“I started cooking at 6 a.m.,” said Priest, 56, as he wiped the counter in the small kitchen.

Priest agreed with Kaler that the need for the service has grown over the years. “So many people don’t have a house,” he said. “I don’t like putting everything on COVID-19, but since the pandemic, things have gotten worse, and more people need help.”

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