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| By Danielle Paine Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW This year, as they dish out turkey and stuffing to the masses, the staff of Open Pantry Community Services Inc. has 3,200 reasons to be thankful for the St Jude's Service Club of Longmeadow. "They are underwriting the entire cost of our Thanksgiving meal and that has never happened before," explained Kevin Noonan, Director of the Open Pantry about the club's recent $3,200 donation. Nearly 400 people will celebrate Thanksgiving together at The High School of Commerce, while many others will have turkey dinners delivered to their doorstep by Open Pantry volunteers. In honor of the 75th Anniversary of St. Mary's Parish, the club's home church, members have compiled their donations for more than one year. The sum is the pinnacle of the club's long history of lending a hand to the Open Pantry, a past that began 20 years ago when the very first meals were served. "Patricia St. Armand and I started this service club and we volunteered at the very first holiday dinner (of the Open Pantry) which was a lot of years ago," said Meredith Brunette. "There were very few homeless people then, and they seemed very appreciative." When the Open Pantry's soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes, was founded, the women served soup and bread to a handful of people in an empty store front, furnished with just one used stove top. Although Brunette now volunteers mostly by baking a chocolate cake every month, 50 members of the service club donate funds and volunteer to cook dinner at the kitchen on the last Monday of every month. Some months, they take care of three meals. "People who are poor or homeless deserve to have the same kind of comradery and food that we all do on Thanksgiving," Noonan said. "St. Jude's recognizes that and have gone above and beyond with this unprecedented donation." For information about volunteering with Open Pantry this Thanksgiving, call 737-5337. |