St. Lawrence Feeds the Needy

Judy Bruen (left) and Kathy DelBono, members of the San Damiano Third Order Franciscans at St. Lawrence O'Toole, getting ready for Thanksgiving for the Homebound. MICHAEL BRENDAN DOUGHERTY “We don’t want anyone to go hungry, or be alone on Thanksgiving,” said Judy Bruen, “we want people to know that someone is thinking of them.” Where public programs like Meals on Wheels close shop for Thanksgiving and the following Friday, parishes like St. Lawrence are making the difference.

Bruen along with her friend Kathy DelBono are leading St. Lawrence O’Toole’s Thanksgiving Dinner for the Homebound, an act of tremendous charity in Putnam County, and going strong for 13 years. Organized by the San Damiano Third Order Franciscans and Knights of Columbus at St Lawrence O’Toole in Brewster, the Dinner for the Homebound program will deliver to the indigent and the isolated.

Tough economic times have increased the need for Church groups to step in. “This year we’re expecting over 200 people,” said Bruen, “and we give two meals per person, so we’ll put together 400 plates. That’s more than we’ve ever done before.” Bruen and Delbono will gather 60 volunteers into the St. Lawrence School kitchen on Thanksgiving morning, and create an assemblyline for home-made dinners.

“Volunteers walk around with a dish, get the food on the dish,” Bruen explained, “then they come over to another table for cranberry sauce and gravy, another for pie, and then a prayer-card. Then they put the cover on it, put it in the bag, and hand it to someone for delivery.”

“We get the names from social service agencies, food pantries, from churches, and from neighbors,” explained Bruen. The social service agencies contact the recipients in advance to ask if they would like to be contacted by the St. Lawrence group. “All the names are cleared for everyone,” Bruen said, to avoid any conflict.

The Thanksgiving Dinner from the homebound has been a success not only in meeting a real need of the community but in cultivating life in St. Lawrence. “We’ve had our Bible study grow,” said Kathy Delbono. “People volunteered first to help for Thanksgiving and then got more involved in the parish.”

The San Damiano Franciscans are a “third order” of the Franciscans, who attempt to live in imitation of St. Francis in their daily lives as lay people. “We are connected to the Capuchins in Manhattan,” said Buren, “and the group gathers together to study the Franciscan rule, we go to retreats every year, and have a special service around Christmas.”

When the St. Lawrence group receives names from the western side of the county, they refer them to Our Lady of Loretto, in Cold Spring. The group is still accepting donations of turkeys, stuffing, russet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and homemade apple and pumpkin pies. “It’s a real homemade meal,” explained Bruen, “and we get the most lovely thankyou notes from people, saying that it tastes so good.”

Bruen also testifies to the relationships that build over years of service. “We’ve had some volunteers become friends with the people they deliver meals to.” In that way, Bruen said, “it’s more than meal.” It’s a chance at true fellowship.