Protecting and serving Minneapolis came with a generous lunch break today, all of it thanks to volunteers and donors.

The 42nd Annual First Responders Dinner was held at the Northeast Moose Bar and Grill. Several restaurants from the neighborhood dropped off trays of food, while local bakeries made sure there was plenty of dessert.

From noon until 10 p.m., police officers, firefighters, EMTs and others serving the community stopped in for a well-deserved meal.

Sukhdeep Singh, owner of Curry Corner, was excited that his restaurant was asked to help provide food this year.

"I made sure that we are going to have more than what we need so we don't run out," he said. "(First responders) are the backbone of our city. Every time we get an opportunity, we want to be there to make sure that we are always giving back."

His restaurant is one of several contributing to the annual Christmas Eve dinner at the Moose Bar and Grill.

Aileen Johnson is one of the organizers of the dinner. She said the dozens of volunteers live nearby. The restaurants and bakeries are all from the Northeast.

Johnson says it's the neighborhood's way of saying thank you.

"I think it really captures the spirit of the holiday to do for others and to think of others," she said. 

Watching police officers crack jokes and relax hits close to home for her.

"My late husband, Charlie Herzog, was an officer in the 5th Precinct and he worked many a Christmas Eve. And it was always a wonderful thing to know that he was getting a good hot meal, and not just a good hot meal, but a celebratory meal," she said.

Hundreds of first responders were expected to attend. 

Volunteers also delivered hundreds of meals to those who couldn't make the trip, like 911 dispatchers, corrections officers, paramedics at nearby hospitals and Metro Transit.