The Norman Christmas Day Community Dinner Foundation will host its 39th annual dinner Dec. 25, bringing residents together to share a meal and celebrate the holidays as a community.
The dinner began when the Magarian family was searching for a way to serve Norman. During a walk spent praying for guidance, they felt called to feed those who might otherwise spend Christmas alone.
The first dinner was held in 1987 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, feeding about 20 people.
“They didn’t want anybody to be alone on Christmas Day, and they also wanted everybody to be fed and for kids to enjoy toys,” said Natalie Stephens, marketing and communications director of the Norman Christmas Day Community Dinner Foundation.
After two years at St. Michael’s, the dinner was moved to Norman High School to accommodate the growing number of attendees. At the 2024 Christmas dinner, more than 2,900 meals were served with the help of 350 volunteers, and those numbers are expected to grow this year.
“We’re going to have more this year because of the economy,” said Leslie Holtzclaw, secretary of the Norman Christmas Day Community Dinner Foundation. “SNAP benefits were reduced, and they didn’t receive those. Just a lot of things are going on.”
The dinner also partners with Norman nonprofit Meals On Wheels to provide meals to residents unable to attend the dinner in person. Holtzclaw said there are typically 300 meals delivered by drivers.
Santa Claus and a volunteer at Norman Christmas Day Community Dinner Foundation's 2024 dinner.
In addition to hosting dinner, the foundation also ensures that the atmosphere is warm and festive. Santa and Mrs. Claus attend every year, volunteers play Christmas music and everyone picks out presents tailored to their age.
OU students remaining in Norman over the holidays are encouraged to attend the dinner as well. Organizers emphasize the dinner is open to everyone, not just those in need, and invite students to bring their friends and share a meal with the community.
“If students don’t go home or have a place to go, or their home is super far away, we want them to know that that is a place that they can come enjoy and eat, …” Stephens said. “There’s a variety of people that come for various reasons.”
For students unable to attend or wanting to contribute time, the foundation is still in need of donations for its toy drive. Items can be dropped off at Morningstar Storage, and starting Christmas Eve, donations can be dropped off at Norman High School.
Donations can include toys and presents for young children, adult necessities like clothes and hygiene kits, and presents for older teens, including electronics and gift cards.
Students can organize drives through campus clubs, sororities and other organizations, and the foundation is prepared to help students organize them.
“If they want to have a toy drive, they can contact us and we can help them organize it,” Holtzclaw said. “It’s not like, ‘OK, have a toy drive. You’re on your own.’ Sometimes we will get these huge, big boxes, wrap them up, and deliver them so everyone can put their toys in that box. Then we pick it up.”
Norman residents can also volunteer to serve food or hand out toys during the dinner, but because so many volunteers return every year, positions fill up quickly.
“We have quite a few people that will say, ‘I want to do the same thing I did last year,’” Stephens said. “And we’ll tell them, ‘Just make sure to sign up as soon as sign ups go up because our volunteer slots do go pretty quickly.’”
Volunteer information can be found online. The dinner is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 25 at the Norman High School cafeteria.
This story was edited by Madisson Cameron. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
