I want to thank the community of businesses/restaurants and volunteers who participated in the 2017 Christmas Community Dinner.  I coordinate the dinner on behalf of Adas Yoshuron Synagogue.

Our local community is famous for its outreach and generosity. For me, this community is an anchor to achieving a bridge for the many participants who regularly join us at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

This past Christmas, despite the blizzard, 50-plus guests joined us for a scrumptious dinner and 20-plus volunteers help prep and serve a lovely meal.  Additionally every guest was presented with a Christmas gift bag and each child received a toy. To accompany the food, music and caroling was enjoyed by all.   

Please help me thank the businesses for their generous donations when you visit: Bangor Savings Bank, Bob Rosenberg DDS, Boynton McKay, Camden Hills Dental Care, David Theriault DMD, Dot's, Ducktrap River of Maine, Fog, Graffam's Bros. Seafood Market, Green Thumb, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hannaford, Home Kitchen, In Good Company, Maine Coast Orthodontics, Maine Street Meats, Mainely Poultry, Market Basket, Planet Toys, Plants Unlimited, Renys Dept. Store, Rockland Food Service, Samoset Resort, Seasons Downeast, Shaw’s, State of Maine Cheese, Sweet Sensations, TD Bank, The Red Barn, Uncle Willy's, Wallace Tents, Warren Dental Associates, Waterfront Restaurant and Waterworks Restaurant. 

As you can imagine, we had an abundance of leftovers without the usual 120+ people who would have attended.  Volunteers braved the elements to bring food to Hospitality House,  Rockland Public Works, etc.  I want to send out a shout out to the Rockland Public Works who plowed us out of the parking lot so we could get home safely and deliver food to them as they were working round the clock to keep us all safe!

Lisa Breheny lives in Rockport