Someone walked off with the prizes before the talent contest started, but in the spirit of Christmas, the show went on.

The Rev. Rick Watkins, the master of ceremonies, had hoped that every performer would get a prize at yesterday's first Hawai'i Cedar Church Christmas party for the homeless at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Those hopes were dashed. Nevertheless, the entertainment was top notch.

Guinevere Melekai, Diane Bettencourt, Bernadette Yockman, Janet Houghton, Laura Streiver and Roslyn Smith, calling themselves "The Women from IHS," got up and offered their Hawaiian-style rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Kaipo Jones, 5, performed "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." May Wright of the Institute of Human Services did "Mele Kalikimaka," and more singers and dancers followed to the delight of an audience of 75 to 100 people.

Blankets are like gold for the homeless, and the church was offering about 50 as enticements for people to perform.

But in the hour between lunch and the talent show, the blankets covering donated clothes to be given away went missing. The lack of prizes, however, did not dampen the spirits of those who stayed to perform and cheer.

"The last time I ate a food plate like this was over a year ago," Louis Polevia said of the lunch of grilled kalbi, barbecue chicken, mac and green salad and kim chee, and soft drinks offered by volunteers of Assemblies of God Hawai'i Cedar Church in Kalihi Valley.

Polevia, a Hawai'i Cedar Church member, has been homeless for more than four years. "This (party) means a lot to me, my wife and (seven) kids," he said. "We get to take home some clothes and food, too. It's kind of hard to have a Christmas when you don't have any money. We told our kids, 'Sorry, maybe we'll be back up next year.' But this (party) was good and it really makes you feel like doing something nice for somebody else."

The food was good, but as Bettencourt noted, "so was the message," which for the church's homeless ministry is sharing — not only for one day — but often.

The Rev. Duk Whan Kim is pastor of the church, which has offered services, lunch and food distributions to the homeless on Tuesdays since August 2003. (Watkins is the church's English-language pastor.)

"It's very important when you're homeless that someone makes you feel like somebody, someone special, because that feeling someone cares keeps you going for a little longer," said Maria Gene, a mother of two young children who lived out of a car with her husband for three months last year. Maria's husband enlisted in the Navy eight months ago, and she will join him next month in California.

Gene has been living with her in-laws and recently encouraged a homeless friend to attend services at Hawai'i Cedar Church.

Lori Umayam, 43, has lived in a tent for about two weeks and was looking forward to getting one of the blankets. But she showed no disappointment when she put on a Hawaiian dress being given away before performing a dance.

Yesterday's party, she said, was "like a gift from God. It's Christmas. I don't have any money and I'm done crying. People are happy and that's important right now."

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.