For years now the White Goose Bistro has offered a free Christmas Day dinner on Dec. 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to those in the community who are looking for a little connection, a little cheer and some great food and this year will see the same generosity of spirit.
When the owners started the event about eight years ago, it was all about making sure that no one would have to spend Christmas Day alone and it’s still about that. Absolutely everyone is welcome.
“If there’s a senior alone or if there’s just the two of them – they’re not going to cook a turkey dinner, or even young couples that don’t have family in town, a single parent with their kids or if a student didn’t go home for the holidays, if you don’t have family, we’ll make you feel like part of ours,” Fallon Moreland said. “The concept is if you’re lonely and if you have nowhere else to go – come here! There’s so much buzz around Christmas Day and if you don’t have family it can be such a lonely day. If you’re by yourself, it’s horrible and we don’t want that for anyone.”
Most years the restaurant sees between 300 and 400 people come through the doors.
“It always goes so smoothly,” Moreland said. “The staff and their families want to volunteer every year and it’s always so fantastic. We always have too many people volunteering and we’ve always have to turn people away because there’s just not enough room for all of them. And that’s totally amazing.”
White Goose is trying to get the word out that they would love to have musicians come to the restaurant for a bit between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to make spirits brighter with live performances.
“In the past we’ve had people volunteer to come and play Christmas carols and we need a few more performers to come out,” Moreland said.
They would like the meal to be as festive as possible and live music always adds something special to any occasion.
The restaurant will be set up so that people can eat together family style with long tables that will see as many people seated at once as possible, Moreland explained.
“Because the whole point is not to come down and sit by yourself but to come sit and talk to people,” Moreland said. “PGNAETA (Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association) as they have in years past are donating 300 crazy-awesome gift bags to people coming for dinner. They have socks, hand warmers, chocolates, chips, granola bars, and so many other treats in them. They are big gift bags and they are just filled with goodies.”
Last year, White Goose cooked 24 turkeys to feed all the hungry people and they even had leftovers that were also donated.
“We just want to make sure everyone has a Merry Christmas,” Moreland said.
