Meet the woman help making Christmas better

WARRENHEIP resident Karen Davies is stepping up her voluntary output these holidays.

Since 2017, she’s donated her time and effort helping to provide meals for Our Lady Help of Christians Parish’s free Christmas Day lunches.

For the past five Christmases, she’s performed tasks like greeting attendees, taking orders and cleaning dishes, and this year will see her take on the role of coordinating the roughly 25-person crew.

“Most of the people involved have been involved certainly longer than me so we know what’s required and people communicate clearly and respectfully,” she said.

“I think everybody enjoys it. They want it to go well and we want our guests to have a special and joyous time. The voluntarism and the generosity really ripple out.

“We’re caring for people who perhaps can’t afford to buy a Christmas meal. Increasingly, the guests tell us the food’s lovely but it’s lovely to be together.

“I think it’s that sense of community that many of our guests seek, really.”

Ms Davies’s support for the Our Lady Help of Christians event began after a change in her family circumstances, having known about the parish’s free Christmas lunches for years prior to getting involved.

About 140 guests are expected for this year’s lunch, and Ms Davies said volunteering is an important part of any community, whether it’s during the holidays or not.

“It’s a very necessary thing to do, to share, especially that idea of Christmas sharing. So, I’m very happy to continue with this,” she said.

“It’s a very busy day, and a tiring one, but it’s very worthwhile in the end. There’s something about gathering people on a special day and providing something they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

“It’s trying to make the day memorable for them.”