Dinner volunteers keep on giving

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
For some children, Christmas is the happiest day. For some elders, it’s the worst day.
That’s what Santa Claus believes. So he comes to town – to the free dinner hosted by Bishop McManus and Catholic Charities Worcester County for anyone in need of Christmas company and food. The dinner is at noon Dec. 25 in St. Paul Cathedral’s basement, 15 Chatham St., Worcester.
“There’s families that come,” said James Burke, of St. John Parish in Worcester, who plays Santa Claus at the dinner. “You talk to the kids. … You bring a little cheer to them. … Some adults, you bring back their childhood … They come in with a frown,” but smile when seeing Santa. He recalled talking to a lonely widower who said the dinner helped him get through the day.
“Jesus is the reason for the season,” Mr. Burke maintained. “The most important thing is to give.”
“You give of yourself … you don’t have to buy presents,” added his wife, Judy Burke, who talks with dinner guests when not serving the meal or working in the kitchen. “You forget your own problems; you see somebody else’s.”
That’s what got the couple started about 12 years ago. Mrs. Burke said they traditionally took her aunt to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth for Thanksgiving. Seeking to fill the void after her aunt died, she suggested they do something for someone else, and they started volunteering for the Bishop’s Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
“I think we just got hooked,” Mrs. Burke said.
The Burkes are not the only such volunteers.
“Back sometime in 2000 time-frame, I wasn’t having the greatest Thanksgiving,” said Robert Mulligan. He decided he could help others, and began volunteering at the Bishop’s Dinners.
“I started off delivering meals,” he said. (The Bishop’s Dinner includes more than 1,900 home-delivered meals as well as the sit-down one at the cathedral that feeds about 150.)
The delivery person may be one of the few human beings some elderly meal-recipients will see in weeks, Mr. Mulligan said. So volunteers, who each have about 20 meals to deliver, are encouraged to stay and visit with those who want them to.
Now, Mr. Mulligan said, he and about 12 other volunteers pack meals, which are provided by The Broadway Restaurant, so others can deliver them.
 
 ST. MARY, UXBRIDGE, SERVES TOO

He continues working with Catholic Charities, although his own parish, St. Mary in Uxbridge, now offers a free Christmas dinner. It is held from noon to about 2 p.m. Dec. 25 in the handicapped-accessible parish center, 77 Mendon St., Uxbridge. (Guests attending St. Mary’s 10 a.m. Christmas Mass can come for hors d’oeuvres from 11 a.m.-noon.)
This is St. Mary’s fifth year offering Christmas dinner to anyone needing company or food, said Susan Leighton, parish administrative assistant and meal co-chair with Diane Smoot.
Mrs. Leighton said Patricia Kane, a parishioner who has since moved, was inspired by the Light of the World parish retreat, and wanted to do something special on Christmas for people who were alone, grieving or sad. She planned a meal for them with her family and fellow parishioners. After she moved from the parish, “we kept it going.”
The first year about five people came to eat and there were “probably about 25 workers,” Mrs. Leighton said. As of Monday, 30 people had registered to eat at this year’s meal. (Guests should R.S.V.P. by calling the parish at 508-278-2226 and giving the number who will be attending. Locals needing a ride should also give their name and telephone number.)    
Mrs. Leighton said there’s Christmas caroling at the dinner, and Father Nicholas Desimone, the pastor, and Father Dennis O’Brien, in residence there, eat with guests. Parishioners mingle with them, as well as donating and preparing the food, and delivering meals to local police and fire stations for those on duty for the holiday.
Frank Holmes, of St. Peter Parish in Worcester, spends part of his holiday running the kitchen at the cathedral – where almost 100 volunteers of various ages and nationalities serve. They’ve included Scouts, Knights of Columbus, police officers and firefighters, he said. And Congressman James McGovern, who would come with his father, other volunteers noted.
“I started it when I was a kid, with my father,” Mr. Holmes said of volunteering for the dinners. “And then I started doing it on my own 25 years ago.”
What keeps him coming?
“The satisfaction of giving back, helping people.” And the guests find satisfaction; “they’re happy they have a warm place to go.”
The respect shown guests and volunteers impressed Michele Perla, of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in West Boylston, who volunteered for the first time at the Bishop’s Thanksgiving dinner last month with her adult son and daughter. Volunteers took plates to the guests, she said.
“It was just such a nice, respectful gesture,” she said.
Organizers respected volunteers’ time too; they were finished in about two hours, she said.
“It was super-organized,” she said. “It was clear they’ve been doing this for a long time.”
Though she can’t go this Christmas, “I’ll do it again in a heartbeat,” she said. “The three of us left with a feeling that we had participated in something that was meaningful to everybody who was there” – volunteers and guests alike.

Do you want to volunteer?

Volunteers wanting to deliver meals should arrive at Catholic Charities, 10 Hammond St., Worcester, by 8:30 or 9 a.m. Dec. 25. Sit-down meal volunteers should arrive at the cathedral by 11:30 a.m.
Those wishing to help financially can do so online at  ccworc.org/donate or send checks to Catholic Charities, 10 Hammond St., Worcester, MA 01610.
Anyone in need of bus transportation, see the schedules above.

Photo by Raymond Delisle from 2018 Christmas Dinner