The Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist Church, this year, continued its longstanding commitment to helping the community by hosting its sixth annual Christmas luncheon.

Speaking after the event, Deacon Rollin Nathan said the Christmas Luncheon was a massive success, providing holiday meals to about 150 people on Christmas Day.

“It was quite a success,” he said. “We also served the police and the fire department guys, about 40 lunches for both of those.

“They are always grateful. This year, we were also able to give them all a gift. These are people who are down on their luck, but they were happy to come, sit down and enjoy their meal.”

He added that he was fortunate to have a number of people step forward to assist with the annual event, saying that he was extremely grateful to have their support.

“I’m grateful that there are people in our community who are willing to help with this programme,” he said. “We had somewhere between 20 and 30 people help out, and I am just so grateful that they came.”

Asked how he felt about being able to give back, Mr Nathan said: “It’s my life. That is all I do from day to day. Everything I do is trying to make life matter for someone else. This is just one of the things I do.

“God gave me life, so when I recognise someone needs help, it doesn’t take a second for me to try to help.”

Mr Nathan said that he plans to extend next year’s event to better support the island’s seniors, making sure that they are given the opportunity to come out and enjoy a hot meal and good company over the holidays.

“Next year, we want to focus more on seniors, because there are a lot of seniors out there at home by themselves,” he said. “We will do an island-wide drive, travelling to make sure they get their meals or picking them up from wherever they are, trying to bring them out so they can socialise.

“That’s something we are looking to do next year.”

In the meanwhile, however, he said he is working on an initiative to help support the men and boys who are struggling in the community, which he plans to launch in January.