![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/a5434f6992604da56b93ba627cf22d969693fcf7.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nLunch guest Sean Morrow has been looking forward to singing Christmas carols and eating delicious food in a place he says helps people feel human again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sean Morrow said the atmosphere at the lunch allowed anyone to feel human again.Credit: Eddie Jim<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just feels so wonderful, so warm and inclusive for those of us who have not necessarily experienced the best in life to be welcomed with open arms and included as integral members of the community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never easy when you\u2019re on your own, surviving basically hand to mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Christmas lunch is a fraction of the 20,000 meals a year provided by the charity, with more than 700 people coming forward for help this year.<\/p>\n
Volunteers also put together more than 600 Christmas hampers for local people struggling with the rising cost of living, admitted to psychiatric wards, living in rooming houses or experiencing any form of social isolation.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
Dixon-Monu says the charity receives no state or federal financial help. Instead, it\u2019s funded by the church with support from the Boroondara local council and generous philanthropic donations.<\/p>\n
Running between the kitchen and the front door to welcome guests, she is frequently stopped by dozens of people who thank her and ask how they can help make the day run even smoother.<\/p>\n
She knows many people don\u2019t often associate Boroondara, which includes the wealthy suburbs of Hawthorn, Balwyn and Kew, with disadvantage, but she says there are pockets where people are doing it tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou pay more for things like services, amenities and also food,\u201d Dixon-Monu says.<\/p>\n
![\"Reverend](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/e8a6ccbab2802a8cc9c4c3f363c1a86d51839e50.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Reverend Natalie Dixon-Monu (right) and volunteers serve Christmas lunch.Credit: Eddie Jim<\/p>\n
\u201cFood costs more in this place, so you\u2019re kind of doubly disadvantaged in that it costs more to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has helped put on this lunch for more than 20 years and says she simply can\u2019t do any other type of Christmas day filled with stress or spending lots of money \u2013 although her children always have plenty of presents.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod with us on Christmas Day is being present with people who often have very, very little, but then the irony is they have so much because they understand the importance of community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, these guys would give you their last cigarette, their jumper off their back, their last coin in their pocket because they know what it\u2019s like to have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"YaYa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9859c5f41f2568f96708f273455558525bb6983f.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
YaYa Abdul was among the volunteers.Credit: Eddie Jim<\/p>\n
YaYa Abdul volunteered his time on Thursday but also works for the Richmond Churches Food Centre and his local Uniting Church.<\/p>\n
He, too, has noticed more people from all walks of life asking for help to put food on the table lately and wishes there were places with the same feeling as Boroondara Community Outreach.<\/p>\n
He started off volunteering when he was in between jobs, but it quickly became a huge part of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cNat is like family to me,\u201d Abdul says. \u201cI want to be with my family during Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n