By Cecilia Nasmith
If your Thursday dinner plans are not yet set, consider a dinner that will make a difference at St. George's Anglican Church in Grafton.
The pulled-pork dinner they're serving up is free – but it's a by-donation event that they hope will result in a sizeable cheque to present to the church's group that is caring for Ukrainian families in the community.
Organizer Sharon O'Connor said the food is entirely donated by supporters, and more than 100 people have signed up in advance for the dinner. But they are cooking extras in hopes of getting more support for their efforts that, in the past three months have raised more than $5,000 for these 35 families.
The biggest expense is feeding them, so proceeds will be used to purchase food cards.
Among those in attendance will be two of the Ukrainian families, as well as a family from Montreal who regularly attend the Ukrainian camp south of Grafton who are making that long drive just for the occasion. And the dinner will kick off with a very special presentation from the township's Town Crier Liam Cragg.
“For those who didn't sign up, we won't turn them away,” O'Connor said.
Of the 101 diners who signed up in advance, she added, 31 are taking their dinners to go and 70 are dining in. She describes it as a come-and-go event that starts at 4:30 p.m. at the church located at 10792 County Rd. 2 in Grafton.
“We will be serving until 7 p.m.,” she said.
“We are hoping we can give them a good sizeable cheque when it's all counted in.”
