The 20th Annual Inner City Community Christmas Dinner was held at Hastings Elementary School earlier this month.

Guests were served a delicious hot turkey Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, prepared and catered by Templeton Secondary School Culinary Arts students, led by teacher Patti Koyanagi.

The Templeton team cooked over 600 meals, which were served by over 60 community volunteers, including Scott Robinson, Superintendent of Schools; Stacy Robertson, VSB Trustee; and VSB senior staff.

"The overwhelming success of this Christmas dinner is a direct result of the generous support made from various individuals, organizations, and local financial institutions, as well as the many volunteers that helped make this night magical for our families," says Melissa Tang, Community Schools Coordinator.

Music for the evening was supplied by Hastings Elementary music teacher Blair Lewis.

And the evening highlight was a surprise visit by Santa

"It was great to be a part of such a wonderful event at Hastings Community Elementary School," says Robertson. "It was great to see the Superintendent, senior administrative staff, staff of both Hastings and Templeton Secondary School who prepared the wonderful meal. It was also great to see many former teachers and administrators who have continued to attend this great event. Their involvement exemplifies their dedication to the Hastings Community and this wonderful event."

Fundraising for the event was spearheaded by Seabridge Marine, which raised money from a variety of local sponsors and companies from Vancouver's Marine Industry.

A total of $22,850 was raised this year, which provided the funding for the Community Dinner and also partially covers the annual budget for the Kids First Program.  

"Seabridge was once again proud to spearhead the fundraising efforts for the Community Schools this year wherein we raised $24,850.00. Our Lisa Malara here at Seabridge was instrumental in ensuring that the support we have developed for the VSB over the past 10 years continues and we were pleased to support this very worthy cause. We also give our congratulations to the team at the school and the VSB for their great work in the community. I would also like to especially thank our donors who continue to support us with their contributions to the VSB and this community," says Scott Lindsay, President of Seabridge Marine Services.

Thank-you to the following generous sponsors for supporting both the Christmas Dinner and the Kids First Program:

Donors:

3688 Investments Ltd.  
Blue Ruby
Hills of Kerrisdale
Art Bensler & Marylene Bensler
Cushman Wakefield
Island Tug & Barge
Arbutus Grove Capital Corp
Mercury Launch & Tug 
Neptune Terminals
North Arm Transportation
Shift Strategy + Design
Mario & Karen Lafuente
Northwest Realty Inc. 
Seabridge Marine Services 
Smit Marine Canada
Tidal Transport & Trading Ltd.
Bruce & Diana Chan
Global Terminals
Oldendorff Carriers Vancouver
Waterfront Chartering
TD Bank and Co-operators Insurance