Big serve of festive cheer
Festive celebrations for the needy started early this year as hundreds lined up ahead of time for the Gold Coast Community Christmas lunch in Labrador.
Organisers Susie Longman and her son Cam Christie said it was the second time in the free lunch’s 16-year history they’d had to open early due to crowd numbers.
“It’s much busier than last year,” Ms Longman said.
“We’ve got so many people sleeping rough with families – the working poor is a real thing.”
Mr Christie said the higher numbers were expected, adding it was “not nice” to see so many people in crisis.
“It’s understandable with the year everyone’s had and with the current finance rates,” he said.
“It’s just a given we’re going to have more people here.”
Joined by an army of 110 volunteers, including State Member for Bonney Sam O’Connor, the duo kept the Christmas cheer coming for three hours.
Mr O’Connor said it was important to be able to host the lunch in Labrador as it was “one of the key needy parts of the Gold Coast”.
“There’s been a massive increase in rent in this area that’s made it really tough for people,” he said.
“It’s probably never been worse, especially for housing – that’s the biggest issue for people, so it’s really special to be able to have the Christmas lunch in our area.”
This year’s community lunch had a jumping castle for guests, hairdressers, nail technicians, laundry services and, as Ms Longman put it, “more toys than Santa’s workshop”.
A hundred chickens, 30 legs of ham, 50kg of lamb, 50kg of beef, 200kg of potato salad, 1600 packets of chips and 800 Up and Go drinks were among the items served.
Volunteers or donations for next year are open via the Gold Coast Community Christmas lunch Facebook page.