Next December 24th, from 5 p.m., the Plaza de los Dos Congresos will once again be stripped of bronze and marble to become something simpler: a communal table designed so that no one goes through Christmas Eve alone. For the ninth year in a row, the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE) is organizing a solidarity Christmas dinner for the homeless and homeless families, which is expected to welcome around 5,000 people. In addition to the band of militants dedicated to logistics, one can also see Juan Grabois, Sergio Sánchez, Natalia Zaracho, Fernanda Miño, Mariana González and Itai Hagman, among other leaders of the social bloc.
The slogan is “No family without Christmas”. This is not just about distributing food, but about restoring a basic right to a meaningful date: the meeting, the toast, the recognition of the other. In a context of social crisis, where the streets are becoming increasingly hostile and many families are spending Christmas without a roof for the first time, the proposal aims to be a collective refuge from the material and emotional elements.
The growth of the event is also an indicator of the social situation. Around 4,000 people took part in the previous edition; This year, organizers are preparing for a thousand more. “The road is harder,” they repeat, describing a scenario characterized by increasing poverty and loss of income.
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To maintain a structure of this scale, more than a thousand volunteers have already been trained. Behind the logistics is an extensive community network that includes social movements, cooperatives, soup kitchens and neighborhood organizations. They insist that the response is collective in a social climate characterized by individualism and “every man for himself.”
The day begins in the afternoon with church services, which are usually denied on the streets. There will be mobile showers, hairdressing, make-up and manicure rooms as well as health and welfare stations so that those who come can experience Christmas Eve with dignity. An exclusive area will be set up for children with bouncy castles, baseball players and leisure activities.
The most awaited moment will come around midnight when Santa Claus appears and new toys are delivered to ensure that no child is left without a gift. Dinner, in turn, consists of a menu – starter, main course and sweet table – prepared by more than fifty chefs from the social community, the same chefs who daily support the popular soup kitchens in the most affected neighborhoods of the country.
The evening will be accompanied by live bands, artists and cultural activities that will add music to a gathering full of hard stories but also the will not to give up. As in every edition, the pre-congress dinner will also be a political gesture: to give visibility to those excluded from the system and to remind us that poverty and exclusion are neither natural nor inevitable. To carry out the day, the MTE calls for cooperation with donations of fresh food, toys and hygiene products as well as financial contributions. In times of conformity and discursive cruelty, Christmas in Congress once again shines as a beacon of community: a long table, a timely hug and the belief that no one should toast alone.
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