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Photo Credit: EverythingGP
By Shane Clausing
Christmas

Sixth annual GP Christmas Charity Dinner goes Saturday

Dec 20, 2019 | 12:00 PM

On Saturday, hundreds of homeless people in our community will gather at the Oasis Church for Grande Prairie’s sixth annual Christmas dinner.

The dinner is for those who are in need and can’t afford to have a warm Christmas dinner.

Gordon Pankratz is the President of the dinner. He was once homeless and was in the same position as the people that attend the get-together. Pankratz started the dinner six years ago, after a friend of his passed away.

“I asked my friend if she could make it through, what her biggest dream would be? She said that it would be to help people who were on the street and addicted to drugs,” said Pankratz.

Pankratz’s friend passed away shortly after that conversation. From there, he decided that he would go around and figure out what to do to help make that dream come true.

“I went around to the soup kitchen, Friendship Centre, all the places, and asked people what is one thing that matters to you and what’s one thing you would like the City of Grande Prairie to know about you?”

The response that came back to Pankratz was that they want people to know that they matter. So, Pankratz came up with the dinner that would be accompanied by a day’s worth of events.

Some of the events that go on before the dinner are haircuts, manicures, Christmas goodies with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

The dinner includes a four-course, five-star meal with live entertainment as well as door prizes.

The dinner has become so popular that there needs to be three different sittings to accommodate the demand. Sittings go at 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. The doors for the church open at 12:00 p.m.

Pankratz mentioned how much this event means to him.

“The dinner means a lot, it’s my heart for the whole year. It takes a lot of planning and fundraising. I always say at each dinner if one person changes their life or comes to a better place because of what happened at the dinner I say the whole thing is worth it.”

Pankratz says that he is still looking for volunteers to help out. If you are interested, you can call him at 587-726-0172 or email him at gordonpankratz7@gmail.com.

by Shane Clausing