The Community Table experiences an unusual Christmas breakfast

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - Everyday, no matter the weather, the Community Table provides food to those in need. Volunteers who help prepare the meals say the need has been much greater this year, however this Christmas was unlike any other.

Christmas day is a special morning where they serve 250 to 300 people breakfast. However, Operations Manager Peter Raleigh told WEAU that this year was not the same.

“It really was not like any other Christmas we have had here.”

Raleigh says because their dining room has been closed , in collaboration with the cold weather, only 39 people stopped by for breakfast this Christmas. He says now that they have been serving through a window to follow safety precautions, they miss out on a large piece of the tradition.

“It makes you feel empty every day because you don’t get to interact with the people that come in … it’s pretty hard to interact with people at the window when you maybe only have 30 seconds of an interaction with them.”

Despite the challenges, Raleigh and volunteers still spent their Christmas morning preparing the meals.

“I think it makes Christmas for most of us. Normally we are here from five in the morning until noon with cleanup and everything. I’m sure it’s an empty feeling for them too because we don’t get to see all the people we normally see on Christmas,” Raleigh says.

Any leftover food from the morning was delivered to the Sojourner House immediately after. Raleigh hopes that next Christmas will return to the way it’s always been.

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