HULL East MP Karl Turner has helped cover the costs of a café providing free meals on Christmas Day.
Mr Turner has raised £500 from businesses in his constituency for the Rovers Return in Holderness Road, which will be serving people who cannot afford to make their own Christmas dinner.
Mr Turner made the gesture after reading, on the Mail's Holderness Road page, how the café needed help to carry out its plan.
Café co-owner Barry Kipling said: "It was right out of the blue. This wasn't waiting for the icing on the cake, this was the whole cake in one. Fair play to the man."
Mr Turner used the money left over from his school Christmas card competition.
He asked the supporting businesses if they were happy for him to give the excess to the Rovers Return and they agreed.
Mr Turner said: "This is such a wonderful initiative and a superb example of communities pulling together in hard times.
"More and more people in Hull are turning to food banks and payday lenders and Christmas is a time when financial pressures increase significantly for families.
"As soon as I saw the article in the Hull Daily Mail, I thought we may be able to help.
"I would like to thank Barry for all his hard work and dedication to the local community."
With the costs of providing free meals for 50 people coming to about £400, Mr Turner's fundraising contribution covers the bill in full.
The MP also persuaded the Mount Pleasant Asda in east Hull to donate 50 portions of Christmas pudding and custard to the café.
The politician is not the only one who has been digging deep. Mr Kipling has been taken aback by the response he has received from the public.
He said: "It's absolutely amazing the response we are getting. We are getting people come in off the street with £1 and £2. A garage donated its £50 tip jar. Everything is going to plan."
The support they have received means that Mr Kipling, along with his partner, Jacqueline Newson, who does the cooking on Christmas Day, can drop the £8 price they had to charge in previous years to cover costs.
The Christmas Day clientele tend to be the elderly, who do not have any family to go to at Christmas, and the homeless.
However, they are hoping to widen the scope this year and attract a variety of people from the area, including families who are struggling to afford to make a Christmas dinner themselves.
The meal consists of two courses and diners will be able to choose between five main courses and five desserts.
