Parishioners provide Thanksgiving meals to needy

Days before Thanksgiving, the narthex in Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Church buzzed with activity. On Nov. 19, an army of volunteers assembled baskets for those in need with all the “fixings” for a holiday meal. Meanwhile, donated turkeys were being collected outside.

Located in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, OLGC was one of many parishes in the Paterson Diocese that participated in meal preparation for those in need in their communities. Volunteers lived out Christ’s call to love the poor by collecting turkeys and all the trimmings to make sure the food insecure in their communities and beyond enjoyed Thanksgiving.

Several parishes, such as OLGC, also assembled baskets with non-perishable items for the meal. The Morris County parish donated turkeys and 60 baskets with supermarket gift cards to families in the community and Paterson and Dover and a women’s home. The Father English Community Center in Paterson, part of diocesan Catholic Charities, received the extra turkeys.

At OLGC, Alex Neuhaus, 19, helped sort non-perishable food donations that were coming in that Sunday afternoon. Like many of the young volunteers, he started helping out at Thanksgiving years ago to perform service for Confirmation formation. They worked alongside a few older parishioners.

“I’m amazed that there are a lot of people here. It’s a community event. It shows that everyone cares about making a difference in the lives of the people the food is going to,” said Neuhaus, a college student.

The next day, another team of volunteers delivered the turkeys and baskets to schools and agencies to be distributed to families and directly to families’ homes — in a discrete way to maintain their privacy.

“This is a group effort. Everyone involved has an important role. The parishioners are generous,” said Maria Klecha, who leads the Thanksgiving drive with Stephanie Amadeo and Michele Shore. “The young people realize that not everyone lives like they do. Maybe the student next to them in class has a family that doesn’t have money for Thanksgiving. The young people learn it’s okay to ask for help and give help.”

At St. Virgil Parish in Morris Plains, a team of young people and adults collected, packed, and delivered 1,250 pounds of food to the Interfaith Food Pantry. That included 22 turkeys and non-perishable food items. Parishioners June and Jim Davidson led the Thanksgiving drive.

At St. Paul Parish in Prospect Park, nine young people collected about 20 turkeys and trimmings in the church parking lot for A+ Adult Medical Day Care Center in Paterson. Leading the effort on Nov. 18 was Christopher Chalmers, youth group leader and catechist, and Jalitza Rodriguez, his fiancé, with Father Henry Pinto, pastor.

“We implemented the lessons we learned in religious education class. As Christians, we need to reach out in the community. That’s how faith works. We shouldn’t leave it up to others. It matters,” Chalmers said.