The Salvation Army and volunteers brought holiday cheer Saturday to Denver homeless shelters, preparing and serving over 2,500 pounds of festive food to residents in a restaurant-style lunch. 

Over 200 volunteers teamed up with the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Community Dinner across eight Denver homeless shelters — including the three newly transitioned hotels purchased by the city. 3,000 meals were cooked and handed out to locals. 

“It’s really for those who may not have family to be with them or may not have the ability to have a nice Christmas lunch,” the Salvation Army Major Richard Pease said.

The luncheons turned the three hotel dining areas into full restaurants, allowing residents to sit down and be waited on. The meals included holiday staples like ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and berry pies.

“These hotels are an opportunity for people to start seeing normal life again,” Pease noted. “It’s also an opportunity to experience what we take for granted — an opportunity to go into a restaurant and experience a meal and not have to feel like you’re going to be rushed out.”

The nonprofit’s annual Christmas Community Dinner has been serving communities across the country for 40 years. Denver’s volunteers began cooking at the Salvation Army Denver Harbor Light Center around 1 a.m. Saturday.

The overnight cooks prepared over 900 pounds of ham, 648 pounds of green beans, 250 pounds of mashed potatoes, 250 pounds of stuffing and 80 gallons of gravy. 

“I think it’s cool because it’s not super complicated. It’s not super profound, but it still means a lot to people,” volunteer Matt Helms said. 

Tonia Dunger, a resident of the DoubleTree homeless shelter on 4040 Quebec Street, sat down to enjoy the holiday meal. 

Dunger had been living in Denver in a tent with her husband for four months. They came out with a group of people from St. Louis earlier this year. Her and her husband entered the shelter when it opened. 

“It feels so good to be off the streets and out of a tent,” Dunger said. “And stuff like this. It’s so much better than I expected.” 

She smiled over her plate, noting that the shelter and volunteers had been so good to her over her stay. She added that the rooms were clean, everyone was pleasant and her future was bright.

“I’m patiently waiting to see the outcome of this,” she said of the 90-day stay before the city helps residents move into permanent housing. “I know it’s going to be good because this place and these people have been so good to us.”