Each Christmas Steve Marshall hosts a community lunch for people who are alone, lonely or homeless — a position he was in 45 years ago.
This Christmas the 62-year-old pastor at Grace and Glory church will open the doors at the PCYC in Albany, in Western Australia's Great Southern region for the festive event.
"If one day of the year we can drop all our differences, all our prejudices … and all come together as a big family … then I've done my job," Mr Marshall said.
Growing up partially deaf, blind in one eye and with a stutter, he said his upbringing was challenging.
"It was incredibly tough to be accepted, to be involved in anything," Mr Marshall said.
"I felt very isolated."
Leaving school at 18 he travelled around Australia.
"I was always looking for something more to life," Mr Marshall said.
"I wanted to make a difference with humanity … I always wanted to be a person to make an impact on people's lives in some way."
In late 1975 he travelled to Katanning — about three and a half hours south-east of Perth.
"I heard that there was some work there and I wanted to make a bit of a start," Mr Marshall said.
"When I got there nothing worked — nothing turned out."
Mr Marshall ended up sleeping rough on a park bench.
Random act of kindness a life-changing moment
On Christmas Eve he remembers meeting a woman while her kids played on a swing.
"She said, 'Why don't you come back to our place for Christmas Day?'" he said.
"I said, 'No … I'm not part of your family'. She said, 'Yes you are'.
"I was very moved, I had tears in my eyes."
An annual tradition
Encouraged by her generosity, Mr Marshall approached then-local state member for Rockingham Mike Barnett to host a Christmas lunch in the suburb south of the Perth CBD.
Eighty to ninety people initially turned out for the first lunch in 1977.
The lunch is now open to the "alone and lonely".
"Christmas time can be one of the most miserable times for people in society today," Mr Marshall said.
"My vision is to make it a better place for everyone on Christmas Day."
In 2005 Mr Marshall moved to Albany where the lunch has been hosted ever since.
