A full Christmas dinner with all the traditional Bermudian favourites was served to 200 residents on Christmas Day.

The annual joint initiative at the Hamilton Seventh Day Adventist Church was sponsored by Bermuda CableVision to the tune of $4,000 in food costs.

Accompanied by two good friends, Rollin Nathan, of CableVision, started cooking in the church hall kitchen on Christmas Eve.

He returned bright and early at 8am on Christmas morning with Daffeth Wallis and Gerald Burgess.

“For the last three years these guys actually cook with me all the time,” said Mr Nathan. “They stay all day, we returned early on Christmas Day and cooked right up to 11am to serve at 12pm.”

By the end of the day Mr Nathan said “more than 80 guests sat down for dinner with another 120 plates served to go by 35 volunteers”.

Premier Craig Cannonier dropped in with his family to share in the Christmas spirit.

“They served meals and he walked around to meet with people who were there as well,” said Mr Nathan.

“We started this about ten years ago as in serving the community and I’m a community oriented person, it goes with me wherever I am.”

And he said the need for this kind of service, particularly on Christmas Day, has grown tremendously over the years.

“Before we started out helping maybe just one or two people. For the last couple of months we’ve given away at least 30 or 40 barrels of food to different organisations and there are more requests,” he said.

“What I recognise is that there’s a lot more people suffering than are willing to say. I’ve had people call me privately to tell me ‘listen, I don’t want to an organisation or a church because I really don’t want people to get into my business like that — can you help me?’. And I will.

“I’ve delivered about six or seven boxes of food and turkey to people’s homes because they want to keep it private. And these are people across the board, not just senior citizens,” he added.

Unlike previous years he said this year, more than ever, “there are lot of people who really need help in feeding themselves due to unemployment”.

“It’s mostly people who are closer to retirement age. These are people who are 55 years old and older who have lost their job. And the little money they’re having, they really can’t stretch,” Mr Nathan said.

“By the time they pay their rent or mortgage that’s it — they’re really living just barely and there’s isn’t any money left for food. It’s more visible than ever.

“These are people making some money but the money can’t stretch as far as bills, medicine, rent, and food, so food suffers,” he said.

“In all honesty this is the worst I’ve seen it in the 25 to 30 years that I’ve been in community service here. This is the tightest I’ve seen it in 30 years where you see entire families that are genuinely suffering. Honestly, I’ve never seen Bermuda to this level.”

He noted that the “constant vicious circle of not making ends meet” is also tearing families apart because of high stress and anxiety levels in the home.

“People are in this stressful environment not knowing what to do, and the stress is tearing families apart; it’s killing people,” he said.

“They’re literally stressed because not knowing where the next meal is coming from is really a tough thing; especially when you have children to feed.

“Next year we plan to do it all over again, we’re not going to stop until the recession eases. And by my observation, I don’t see anything getting better anytime soon.”

The company’s first order of business when the new year rolls in will be to deliver ten barrels full of non-perishable food to various organisations. The company’s Open Hands Loving Heart Food Drive will continue throughout the new year.