Baptist Care SA News

WestCare Christmas Lunch: A place to call “HOME” on Christmas

WestCare Christmas Lunch: A place to call “HOME” on Christmas

Underneath the Christmas lights, tinsel and trimmings used to adorn the WestCare Centre Chapel, South Australians from different walks of life are welcomed in for lunch every Christmas. The WestCare Christmas Lunch is a tradition upheld by Baptist Care SA’s WestCare Centre annually, serving between 120 – 140 people for lunch every Christmas Day. This day is for people with nowhere else to go who are seeking to find a sense of community – many of whom are marginalised and/or experiencing homelessness.   

Inner City and WestCare Centre Manager Stefano Tocci says the Christmas Lunch is a day about showing people they are loved with a lavish meal they can enjoy with others. WestCare Centre for many is home, and the Christmas Lunch is the opportunity for clients to have Christmas lunch with their family. The WestCare Christmas Lunch is also an exciting and meaningful event for Baptist Care SA staff and volunteers who want to help each year.   

“We have a lot of generous people in the community that want to open their heart and go, ‘I want to be there on Christmas Day, because why should I celebrate when the people that are marginalised don’t,’ so we want to give back,” says Tocci. “The staff love it as well. There are staff who sign up who go, ‘I want to do that shift, I want to be a part of that.’”   

WestCare’s Chef Gary and his dedicated team cook up an extravagant four-course feast for everyone who comes including favourites such as roast turkey and Christmas pudding. Every year the WestCare Centre partners with a variety of organisations, with the help of donors, providing turkeys and produce, as well as their time to bring this day to life.   

Staff also attend the lunch offering pastoral care services and a listening ear, along with musicians who come to spread the Christmas cheer with guitars and jingles.  

“Christmas just tends to do something for everybody you know, which is that time of celebration, that time of maybe putting away the mentality of ‘the year’s been tough,’ acknowledging that gratefulness is really, really important,” says Tocci. “There is a thread of gratefulness to say, ‘thank you that you’re actually here.’ So, Christmas is almost like the crescendo of that, we then say, ‘I’m grateful you’re here, and I want to be a part of this.’”   

The Westcare Christmas Lunch will be held from midday on 25 December 2022.  

Baptist Care SA, lives, works and walks on Kaurna, Peramangk and Boandik lands. We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the state’s first peoples, recognise their traditional ownership, and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs, deep connection and continued guardianship of land and waters. We value the contributions of Elders past and present, and are committed to learning from those emerging.