For the third year in row, the Museum is partnering with Potluck in the Park for a free Christmas day dinner. The event also includes gifts, phone calls, photos with Santa, and live jazz music.
Portland Art Museum Executive Director and Chief Curator Brian Ferriso, who volunteers with his family at the event, said, “we are honored to partner with Potluck in the Park to host a Free Christmas Dinner again this year. When Potluck in the Park leadership approached the Museum three years ago to host the annual event, due to the closing of the YWCA, we knew it was something we wanted to do. The Portland Art Museum aspires to be a resource for all and we are honored that our celebrated facilities and collections can be used to serve those most in need. It is truly a unique opportunity for the Museum and Potluck in the Park to not only nourish bodies, but also souls.”
Read more from the organizers of the event below.
Potluck in the Park is hosting its Free Christmas Dinner for the 23nd year. Portland’s largest Christmas Dinner will be served on Christmas Day at the Portland Art Museum. The dinner is open to anyone in need or anyone without friends or family to spend the holiday with. Over 400 volunteers will help feed and gift more than 1000 guests. The doors will be open for three hours from 1:00 to 4:00pm to make sure everyone is fed.
Guests will dine on a traditional holiday meal in the Art Museum’s Fred and Suzanne Fields Ballroom. Dinner will be accompanied by live jazz from Tom Grant and Patrick Lamb and friends. Guests can receive a photo of themselves with Santa and make free phone calls to loved ones.
Guests will also receive socks filled with goodies by Cathedral Elementary School students and warm wear collected by Fred Meyer employees and others. Kennels for guests’ pets will be available during the meal and pet food will be distributed courtesy of the Pongo Fund.
Major contributors to the event include: The Hilton Hotel, DoubleTree Hotel, Peter Corvallis Productions, West Coast Event Productions, Classic Pianos, DeAngelo’s Catering & Events, Brattain International, Fred Meyer Employees and the more than 200 student elves of Cathedral School who joyfully stuffed more than 1000 pairs of socks.
ABOUT Potluck in the Park
Potluck in the Park is an all-volunteer non-profit organization in its 26th year of providing nutritious meals to anyone in need EVERY Sunday, rain or shine, at O’Bryant Square in Downtown Portland. They have served meals for 1323 consecutive Sundays since 1991.
Potluck in the Park’s mission is to nourish and enrich the lives of individuals by providing a free hot meal and a safe community gathering place every Sunday. Potluck volunteers believe in treating everyone with dignity, respect, friendliness and kindness. It goes a long way in helping build self-esteem and a sense of self-worth in many of their guests.
The group began serving Christmas Dinner at the YWCA the first year after they started that Christmas fell on a Sunday in 1994. It became a Christmas Day tradition soon after.
In 2012 Potluck in the Park volunteers were awarded the Oregon Governor’s Volunteer Regional Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement.