The Smethursts of Penticton have done it again, cooking and baking up a storm and making sure hundreds of residents got a Christmas dinner and desserts this holiday.
The family of 10 have been making Christmas dinners for the public for a couple of years now.
But this year, the need was great, as they handed out 286 meals on Christmas Eve and sent a few more out with ‘a lovely gentleman’ that distributed them to people on the streets.
Husband and wife team Matthew and Ashley Smethurst make the dinner including the turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings while the older children do all the packing, said Ashley.
Extended family helped with the plating and packaging as well.
This year, they had volunteers delivering to people in the community. In past years, they would deliver the meals in their children’s wagon and even welcomed people into their homes for dinner.
“I want to thank our wonderful drivers from Clean Streets Penticton, our donors of all sorts for helping us make this happen for all these people this year…us, our children, and aunties all helped cook, pack, and also answer the door and give people their meals,” said Ashley. “It was definitely a wonderful experience yet again and we’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas,” said the Smethursts on Facebook.
Starting at the beginning of December, Ashley put out a call on Facebook about offering Christmas dinner to anyone who wanted one. With 286 meals handed out, the need was great this year.
But the Smethursts do this all on their own just as a way to give back to their community.
People on Facebook are calling them the Christmas angels.
READ MORE: Penticton family gives back with hundreds of Christmas meals for the community