Wealthy New Yorkers pay $100 each to have candlelit Thanksgiving dinner with the homeless

• Dinner was held Friday at St. Bart's in Midtown
• Chefs from The New York Palace and The Waldorf-Astoria helped out
• Menu included roasted turkey, buttered mashed potatoes, red velvet cake and pumpkin cheesecake

By Associated Press Reporter

Published: 20:48 EST, 28 November 2014 | Updated: 23:24 EST, 28 November 2014

Some well-off New York City residents have paid $100 each for the honor of eating a candlelit holiday dinner with homeless people at a church.

The Rev. Edward Sunderland says he hopes Friday's unusual mealtime coupling of haves and have-nots at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan will become a trend across America.

About 500 people dined at large round tables beneath the church's high ceiling.

Good cause: About 500 people packed into St. Bartholomewís Church in New York on Friday for a mixer dinner of Manhattan people and the homeless

Fancy Thanksgiving: Some of the culinary staff stand near the dessert table during a holiday dinner served at St. Bartholomewís Church

Scene: Wealthier New Yorkers paid $100 a plate to sit with some of their less fortunate neighbors to a dinner, which included roasted turkey, buttered mashed potatoes, red velvet cake and pumpkin cheesecake

Coupling the haves and have-nots: David Garcelon (right), director of Culinary at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and Jacques Sorci (left), executive chef at The New York Palace, prepare for the arrival of wealthy New Yorkers eating dinner with homeless people at St Bartholomew's Church on Friday

Feast: A worker puts finishing touches on the dessert table prior to the two-course dinner

Chefs from The New York Palace and The Waldorf-Astoria hotels provided roasted turkey, buttered mashed potatoes, red velvet cake, pumpkin cheesecake and other delights.

“It was magical,' Edward Sunderland, associate rector at St. Bartholomew’s, told CBS New York.

'All of our soup kitchen regulars came up to me and said how thrilled they were to have more than just a quick turkey.'

'In ordinary circumstances, people who are not hungry or homeless, don’t know how to interact with other people but if you put a really stunning meal in front of people, in a beautiful space, you give something in common.'

A piano played softly in the background.

Sunderland says the dinner is a chance for people to get to know each other in a safe place and for donors to see who benefits from their charitable instincts.

St Batholomew's, or St. Barts, is an Episcopal Church located at 325 Park Ave in New York's Midtown