On Christmas Day, Bob Dery greets each person who enters the church cafeteria with a smile and some ham.

“Would you like a piece of ham to celebrate the holidays?” he asks one young woman.

Dery is the first of many volunteers lining a long table of food at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church’s free Christmas Day dinner.

Volunteers had to start preparing five days earlier, organizers said. They cooked 70 pounds of chicken, 80 pounds of ham, 40 pounds of carrots and 100 pounds of potatoes.

More volunteers arrived at the cafeteria on Christmas Eve to bake 25 to 30 chocolate cream and apple pies. Local businesses donated baked goods and bread.

But as Dery says hello to each person who enters the cafeteria, he is serving more than ham and smiles. Dery said he’s there for the sense of community.

“The whole thing is a wicked feel-good job,” Dery said.

Dery said he started volunteering at the dinner about five to six years ago with his wife. They found out about the event through friends. He continues volunteering even after his wife passed away last year, and he said on Monday that he looks forward to volunteering again next year.

“I do it because it makes me feel good, and I know it helps people,” Dery said.

Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church has held a Christmas Day dinner almost every year since 2006, but this was the church’s first year back since the COVID-19 pandemic, said church moderator Joy Knight.

“It’s glorious,” Knight said of returning. She grinned at the full room of diners and volunteers.

Families come to the church’s Christmas Day dinner from all over, Knight said. There were families who live in small apartments who arrived because they don’t have room to eat together in their own homes. There were people who live far from their families, or who have recently lost a loved one. Many people left the dinner with takeout containers so they could bring food home to their loved ones and neighbors.

Knight said one family on Monday drove from as far away as Lyman. Several families were new to Maine and the United States.

Janelyton Birungi was sitting in the back of the cafeteria with her husband, having just finished a couple plates of chicken and potatoes. Birungi said they had saved room for pie, but still needed a few minutes before they could dig in to dessert.

This was Birungi and her husband’s first Christmas in the United States, she said. They arrived from Uganda. Birungi is a regular at the church, which she said helped her family while they were looking for a place to live. She said she found out about the dinner from other church members.

“It has been a perfect Christmas,” she said. “It has made our day. We give thanks to our church, they’ve done a lot for us.”

Knight said the dinner is also special for the volunteers. Some of Monday’s volunteers have been helping with Christmas Day Dinner since the first one in 2006.

Knight said many volunteers called her during the pandemic, asking when the dinner might start up again.

The church wanted to wait until it was as safe as possible, Knight said. On Monday, some volunteers and diners wore masks.

For her church, Knight said, one of the most important things they can offer on Christmas Day is hospitality.

“We open our doors to people to feed them,” she said. “People don’t want to be alone.”

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