The Knights of Columbus served a Christmas meal to a crowd that was estimated at more than 500 people, in spite of the fact that the basement of the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church flooded earlier in the month because of a sewer system problem. Instead of canceling the meal the Knights moved the event next door to the Father Turcotte School instead. The church kitchen could not be used to prepare the hundreds of pounds of foods needed for the annual Christmas meal because of the flooding but Noralta stepped up and agreed to handle the food preparation at the Bighorn Lodge which is situated around 26 kilometres away from Fort McMurray, and to transport the prepared food to the event location.

The Knights of Columbus Christmas meal location change meant that more people than ever could enjoy the holiday spirit and a festive meal. The meal was so successful that some want to move it to the new location permanently. The organizer of the event, Mike Daley, stated “We will have to work that out with the school board, but once the commercial kitchen back at the church is ready to use again, the volunteers can prepare the food there and transport it over here. Some volunteers were disappointed they couldn’t do a lot of stuff in the kitchen, but it worked out. It’s a bigger footprint with more room in the school.” There was transportation for anyone who wanted to come enjoy a meal, and gifts of socks, hats, scarves, and gloves to protect against cold weather were given out to those who attended.