Volunteers prepare to serve Thanksgiving meals at St. Patrick's.
By Nancy Peckenham
The doors of St. Patrick Church’s Soup Kitchen wouldn’t open for another 20 minutes, but already a line of people had formed outside the locked doors of the cafeteria on Tuesday. Inside the long tables were draped with paper tablecloths in the colors of autumn, a foldable turkey in each centerpiece for the annual Thanksgiving meal served like all meals at the soup kitchen, free-of-charge.
Vicky McKoy seemed remarkably calm in the moments before the doors opened for guests. She’s been the director of the kitchen for 14 years and, with a team of more than a dozen people supporting her, she has the preparation of the Thanksgiving dinner under control.
Vicky McKoy (right rear) looks on as guests receive their meals.
Three Hundred Meals Served
McKoy said that she started baking the 30 turkeys for the dinner early in November, then sliced and froze them. The full plate of dinner included potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries, stuffing and gravy. For dessert there were 25 pies, cookies and fresh fruit. McKoy estimated that the kitchen will provide about 300 meals that day.
And if 300 meals are not enough to handle, McKoy said that kitchen had just delivered another 80 uncooked turkeys and fixings to the Loaves and Fishes program at the United Methodist Church on Liberty Street.
Volunteers + Organization = Good Food
Inside the kitchen, the dozen of volunteers stood at their stations, ready to serve up plates of food, hand out drinks or answer questions. Vincent Gordon of New Windsor said it was his second year volunteering at Thanksgiving, noting he is a regular at the soup kitchen on Monday mornings where he works for three hours before heading into work.
Lanita Brown enjoying her Thanksgiving meal for the 14th year in a row.
Many of the guests at the Thanksgiving dinner said they were regulars, from 80-year-old Herbie to 47-year-old Lanita Brown. She said that she has enjoyed all 14 Thanksgiving dinners over the years, in fact, she is a regular at the table throughout the year. “I’d probably be sitting at home hungry if I wasn’t here,” Brown commented, adding that she walks over from Renwick Street every day.
Thanksgiving Meals Fixings at Loaves and Fishes
Even as some lined up for meals at St. Patrick’s, other people left the Methodist church with bags of food to prepare. Among the groups and individuals who donated to the Loaves and Fishes food program were members of the Mount St. Mary College community, which donated gravy, cranberry sauce, boxes of stuffing mix and mashed potatoes.
Fr. Francis Amodio, college chaplain, and student volunteers deliver the holiday food to Loaves and Fishes.
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