The L.I.N.C. Clean & Sober Sit-Down Christmas Dinner

The L.I.N.C. Clean & Sober Sit-Down Christmas Dinner is a complete turkey dinner with all the trimmings along with carolling and a visit from Santa for the kids.

The dinner is usually held from 5-8pm on a day early in December. In 2015, over 350 people were in attendance. A sample of the poster used to promote the event appears at the bottom of the page.

The population benefiting from this programme include:

• Low-income people who are at risk of homelessness or are homeless in the Mission, Abbotsford, Vancouver, and Chilliwack area
• Those who have had contact with the criminal justice system, and families of said individuals
• People with drug and alcohol problems
• Supporters of the L.I.N.C. programme
• Seniors, other members of the Mission community, volunteers etc.

The program creates a sense of community. People from throughout the Fraser Valley come to donate their time or food for the Christmas dinner.

In 2012, the CBC National did a TV piece on the L.I.N.C. Christmas dinner (see below). The piece is titled “Rebuilding Lives for the Holidays”.