Cork's Penny Dinners to feed 700 people on Christmas Day

Caitriona Twomey and her team will carry out a massive logistical operation to feed many of the neediest people in Cork city and beyond

Caitriona Twomey from Penny Dinners, said: “People can come down and we will give them their dinner. Santa Claus will be here to give them all of their gifts and a little hamper." Picture: Dan Linehan

As families across the country do final checks for Christmas dinner, one of Cork's oldest charities is preparing its own festive feast to feed a staggering 700 people tomorrow. 

Caitriona Twomey and her team at the Penny Dinners charity will carry out a massive logistical operation to feed many of the neediest people in Cork city and beyond. 

“If they need us, we will be there,” said Ms Twomey, volunteer coordinator for the homeless charity.

Christmas dinner will be cooked by staff and volunteers at the River Lee Hotel, with the traditional turkey, ham, stuffing, and all the trimmings on the menu.

The centre of the operation, on Little Hanover Street, will run as a takeaway service due to Covid restrictions.

“People can come down and we will give them their dinner. Santa Claus will be here to give them all of their gifts and a little hamper,” Ms Twomey said.

“We will laden them down with loads of stuff and try to cheer up their day.

The Cork Penny Dinners High Hopes Choir will perform on Christmas Day. Picture: Larry Cummins

"The High Hopes Choir will be performing on the street outside. We will bring our Christmas tree out as well, to bring that bit of festivity to the street, to make it look as welcoming as possible,” she added.

A delivery service will also be run by Michael Turtle, of Exec cars, who will have a fleet of drivers to get dinners out to those who can't make it to the centre.

Ms Twomey said they will be providing dinner to people from all walks of life.

“People that are down on their luck, going through hard times — people that just can't make ends meet, anyone who needs us,” she added.

“We will all be in here on Christmas Day and we will all be exhausted, but we’ll be smiling.” 

We will do it to make sure everyone feels like they have someone.

"We're in a stronghold, we are here for them, and we are not going anywhere,” Ms Twomey said.

Covid has brought about a lot of change, and now more so than before, people are in need of support for isolation and loneliness.

“There is a fierce vulnerability out there right now. You see a huge pain, a huge fear. The phones here are hopping non-stop, and we are trying to get to everyone. 

"People are scared that we won’t get to them. But we will, we always do,” she added.

The operation will see various groups of ex-servicemen, gardaí, charity workers, and others helping make sure the goods get to where they need to go, while others are in the warehouse, putting together “thousands upon thousands” of hampers.

“On Christmas night, we will go around on the streets to see if we can find any sleepers, and bring them hot food to shorten the night for them,” Ms Twomey said.

Penny Dinners has been running since famine times, Ms Twomey said, but the project is always evolving.

We have a famine again now, a respectful looking famine.

“Whereas before, people were dying on the side of the road, and some still are, but now it is a different looking famine. We have never gotten away from it,” she said.

“When we have hungry bellies, we have something wrong in the country,” Ms Twomey added.