Every year Cathedral Prep’s Key Club—which specializes in hosting and scheduling fundraisers, dress-downs, and many more—hosts a Christmas dinner for the city’s less fortunate. It is a chance to not only have a hot meal during the cold season (even though we have no snow, it’s still freezing), but also to provide the less fortunate with a Christmas that they may not get to celebrate to the fullest.

The student body and outside donors donate clothing, desserts, toys for children, and much more for the intention of giving them out to those who are attending the dinner. While there, children (if present) are able to pick out a toy. There are also sports available to play with some of the students, as well as an arts and crafts table with students as well. The children are always so excited for the opportunity to pick their own present from a vast array of toys, and also enjoy some quality time playing not only with other kids, but also the Prep and Villa students. Along with this, there are options of turkey, stuffing, corn, and many more food options for everyone to eat and take to-go, with tons of desserts in addition. Amazingly, the key club was able to pay for one thousand meals, meaning that every person was able to take multiple meals home to later enjoy. 

Mr. Parsons, history teacher and director of the Key Club said, “It’s all about giving back, and showing them that we care.”

To help prepare for the cold winter months, Prep and Villa held donation periods for hats, gloves, and scarves. One woman even donated over 240+ hand-knitted hats. There were lots of options to select from, and the people were very happy to be able to be a bit more snug during the harsh weather of December. 

The Christmas dinner was certainly a success, through and through. Even if only a few children and adults attended, it still would have been worth it for the sake of helping those in need in the community. That is what Christmas and the spirit of giving truly means, especially to Mr. Parsons and all of Cathedral Prep.