Alexandria church cancels Christmas dinner, asks donations to be directed elsewhere The church asks people to consider directing their donations this year to the Douglas County Outreach Food Shelf, the United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties, or another worthy cause in the area. 11:23 am, Dec. 18, 2020 × This photo is from last year's Community Christmas Dinner, the 26th annual, that was held at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Alexandria. (Echo Press file photo) With "great regret," the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Alexandria announced that its annual Community Christmas Dinner has been cancelled this year. "With COVID-19 still raging, we are unable to host the dinner," said Ann Branch, moderator of the church council. "We hope that we will be able to again host in Dec. 2021."