Egypt Community Christmas Day Dinner

01/17/2026

Christmas would not seem like Christmas without the Community Christmas Day Dinner. Once again - this Christmas was the same. It was a wonderful time together! The food was delicious, and the company was even better!

As the saying goes - "many hands make for light work." Christmas Day Dinner this year was no exception. Many people helped, others made donations, and it meant that we were able to make Christmas Day Dinner a reality! A special thanks goes out to the Egypt Hall Board, Zephyr/Sandford United Church, Ravenshoe United Church, and Lakeside Community Church of the Nazarene for their donations. We received many donations on Christmas Day as well. These are so appreciated! Christmas Day Dinner is about being a community, and these donations, in addition to ones received on Christmas Day, mean that we are able to provide this event at no cost to those who attend.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped with our preparations - food preparations, setting up, cleaning up, and making sure that everyone who attended felt welcome! It was a great time, and we couldn't have done it without you! As the saying goes ... "see you next year!"
-Laura

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12/25/2025

We are ready to go!! We are looking forward to seeing everyone!

12/24/2025

Thank you to everyone who came and helped out today! We decorated gingerbread houses, cut bread and veggies and apples for stuffing and apple crisp. And of course had a little fun and enjoyed each other’s company while we were at it. All of you made the work go by quickly, and was enjoyable (well … unless you were cutting onions 😉). We put on the final touches tomorrow morning, and can’t wait to see everyone!

12/20/2025

Gingerbread houses, gingerbread houses, and more gingerbread houses! Looking for decorators! Bring your best creative ideas! Note … no special gingerbread house assembly skills required 😉

We’ll be decorating gingerbread houses in December 24th. Come join us at 9.00am at Egypt Hall.

See you soon - Laura

12/15/2025

I was looking at old pictures, and found some different years of Christmas Day Dinner. It brought back some fun memories of getting things ready, and the way that many hands make for light work. By far, one of the funniest things that happens, EVERY YEAR, is trying to put together gingerbread houses and decorate them. Candy pieces end up rolling everywhere, and I've discovered them months later!

Do you have a favourite Christmas Day Dinner memory? Feel free to share a picture if you have one!
-Laura

12/02/2025

One of the great things about Community Christmas Day Dinner is that we are able to make this dinner a reality all through donations and the work of volunteers. For those of you who are interested in helping, I am looking for help on December 24th and December 25th.

On December 24th, we will be meeting at Egypt Hall at 9am. Some of the things that we will be doing that day are:
🎄decorating gingerbread houses
🎄food preparation (preparing stuffing, peeling potatoes, preparing apple crisp)
🎄setting up the hall
🎄preparing decorations for the table

Christmas Day is unique, because people want to help but also have other commitments. If you are able, and would like, you are welcome to join us for the whole day, or just for a portion of the day. Some of the things we will be doing include:
🎄finishing setting up
🎄finishing up food preparation
🎄eating a delicious turkey dinner!
🎄cleaning up (this includes doing dishes, putting things back away, mopping)

If you would like to join us in the morning, come anytime after 10:30am. You're welcome to stay to eat!! If you have time in the afternoon, and would like to come help, come between 2:30pm - 3:00pm. If you have any questions about this, or want to confirm that you're able to help, feel free to let me know by message, or you contact me at 905.806.1388. - Laura

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11/27/2025

Over ten years ago, I had a friend come to me with an idea. They would spend Christmas Day in Toronto working with a group that prepared a turkey dinner for the homeless. They had asked how we might make that happen in Newmarket or Georgina. We were able to use the Egypt Hall, sent out invites to the different shelters in north York Region, had transportation lined up, had food donations for our meal, and no guests. So … we said “who are our guests?” We started thinking of some people who might be on their own for Christmas and invited them to spend the day with us. Out of this initial idea is how Community Christmas Day Dinner became what it is.

Community Christmas Day Dinner is unique. Take a moment and think about a favourite Christmas family memory that stands out. Maybe there are lots of people around, those favourite dishes which are only made at Christmas time, and people everywhere. This is a little bit of the picture of Community Christmas Day Dinner. During that time we are all family. We’re a community family preparing the meal, setting up, serving food, and cleaning up. But we’re also a community family that sits down and shares a traditional turkey dinner together on Christmas Day. It’s a special time where everyone is family. We look forward to spending time with you on Christmas Day!

11/26/2025

Look what arrived!! If you would like some to handout and share, let me know, and we can make arrangements to get them to you. -Laura

11/23/2025

12/29/2024

Two words ... thank you! Christmas Day Dinner was a great success this year! Many enjoyed the meal in person, as well as Christmas meals taken to ones at home. Community Christmas Day Dinner is special for multiple reasons - the home cooked food, traditional turkey dinner, and the people. This time of year, our social media feeds are filled with pictures of joy and love of families and friends spending time together. For others, this isn't the case, and it’s a day that is not filled with joy. On Christmas Day, we are a community together celebrating a special day, and enjoying good food at the same time!

The saying goes "many hands make light work." This was exactly the case with Christmas Day Dinner. Thank you to those of you who braved the snow storm on December 23rd to help out. We had a great time making apple crisp, cutting bread, and decorating gingerbread houses (that might have been the most fun lol). Thank you to those of you who helped out on December 24th. We were busy setting up the Egypt Hall, and of course having a good laugh trying to decorate more gingerbread houses (they were already pre-built, but half the fun was being open to taking a chance decorating and seeing what it might become). Thank you to those of you who helped out on December 25th. You were the ones who helped bring it all home - from finishing up those final little details, to serving, to doing to the dishes, cleaning up, and sharing the day with others.

A special thank you goes to out a couple of people. Thank you to Debbie Hopkins for your perfectly created party favours. These little party favours we get to take home are a reminder of the Christmas season, and so perfectly created. Thank you to those of you who made desserts for Christmas Dinner to share. They were delicious! Another big thank you goes out to the Zephyr/Sandford United Church and Ravenshoe United Church for their donations to the Community Christmas Day Dinner. This was a huge help, and helped make the Community Christmas Day Dinner possible. Thank you, as well, to those of you who contributed financial donations to Christmas dinner. Every little bit helps!

’Til next year! Thanks again!
Laura