Mystic — Union Baptist Church’s 29th annual Christmas dinner was, in some ways, the first of its kind.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the church to change how it distributes food to the hungry on Christmas day. Rather than inviting people into the church for food and fellowship, this year’s iteration was less social and entirely pickup or delivery based.

In their fifth year running the event, Dawn Scanlon and Trad Dart, who are both members of the church, headed a team of about 20 volunteers, all of whom are also Union Baptist parishioners. As usual, Dart was on food — he used to be the executive chef at Mystic Aquarium and has worked other gigs in the restaurant industry — and Scanlon ran things administratively.

Scanlon said about 30-40 people were picking up food, whereas 120-130 people were having it delivered. All told, the church provided 160 to 170 meals to members of the community on Friday.

“It was a whole new ballgame this year. We had to rethink everything,” Scanlon said. “We’re all social distancing. We’re setting up in the fellowship hall so that we can all have our own space. Spouses are working together. We all have on our masks and hats. We’re having people who are picking up their meals stay in their cars in the parking lot — they called ahead and ordered their meals. We are going to take the meals up and out to the cars.”

Six or seven volunteers in the kitchen were placing food and gifts into boxes and bags, which another group of volunteers took out to people. Delivery drivers went out around 3 p.m. People who decided to pick food up did so between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The meals consisted of a slice of pie, Christmas cookies, a turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, cauliflower, cranberry sauce, rolls, butter and a goodie bag. The goodie bags were new this year and contained helpful items to protect from the coronavirus, such as masks and bottles of hand sanitizer.

Scanlon doesn’t normally have to take calls for reservations; the church simply serves everyone who walks in. This year, she said, she received calls for weeks, all the way up to Christmas Eve. She detailed how the church gets the word out about the event.

“We have all of Avery Heights this year, we have all of Poquonnock Village this year, which are both subsidized housing developments,” Scanlon said. “At the church we send out fliers to all the other churches, we send it to low-income housing places, other organizations, visiting nurses, we send it to people who we feel have an outreach program to get the meals out.”

That’s how Groton resident Mike Doyle found out about the event.

“This is my first year doing this,” Doyle said. “I live at Avery Heights in Groton, and there was a signup, so I signed up for my friend and I to pick up for today, then I’m going back to Avery Heights to have the meal with my friend.”

Doyle, who has lived in Groton for about two years, said he likes what the yearly Christmas effort stands for: “It means giving to people who are not as fortunate as the rich,” he said.

Dart and Scanlon had a wealth of volunteer help, including Abby Rogers, who was at the church with her parents.

“I’ve grown up in this church. This is the first year I’ve been here, but we decided come help out this year,” Rogers said. “I’m enjoying everyone, they’ve been working really hard. I’m just helping out, floating around, filling in holes. It’s really nice that we are able to do this under the circumstances.”

Rogers, a track and field athlete, was tasked with running the food and gift bags partway to the people waiting in the parking lot. Her role resembled a relay: She would be given the goods in the fellowship hall, then she would take off, traversing two flights of stairs to hand it off to her mother, who, jogging through the parking lot while holding a clipboard, then brought the goods to the people waiting.

Though the feeling of eating in a group, which ideally would help people who are lonely during the holidays, was gone this year, Scanlon and others spoke of the importance of continuing the food giveaway, especially in light of the pandemic.

“Our children are grown, we don’t have grandchildren yet, and giving away food is something that I feel is close to my heart,” Scanlon said. “I enjoy doing it. Even though it’s stressful, it’s still fun.”

Rogers said the event is supposed to “still show that we’re here for the community even when life is crazy, as it has been — we’re showing that we’re always going to be a place of support and care for people.”

s.spinella@theday.com