Newtown’s Gift To Neighbors Extends Halfway Across State

By John Voket

Newtown’s Christmas gift to almost 650 homeless, homebound, and hungry individuals as far away as Stratford was: a Christmas.

Beginning Wednesday, December 22, more than 70 volunteers representing three Newtown faith-based organizations carried out an organized, three-tiered initiative to ensure as many people as possible received a warm greeting and a hot meal for the holiday. The annual activity was co-sponsored this year by Congregation Adath Israel Men’s Club, The Newtown Congregational Church, and St Rose Parish.

Following a massive shopping excursion to local markets, a small volunteer contingent began the process of preparing institutional meal service for 520 individuals at four homeless shelters from Derby to Bridgeport to Danbury. Then early on the morning of Christmas Eve, another small group of drivers whisked the banquet trays full of steaming turkey, gravy, vegetables, potatoes, and hot bread fresh from the oven to their appointed destinations.

According to event co-chairs Frank Middleton and Hank Wasicki, once the shelter deliveries are complete, the holiday meal activity refocuses on its second and third phases. Those two phases incorporate the individual delivery of more than 40 meals to homebound individuals in Bethel, Danbury, Stratford, Bridgeport, and here in Newtown, and a community meal in the St Rose Parish Center for more than 100 guests.

“While a cooking crew headed by Paul Rushefsky works in the [St Rose] kitchen, another larger group of volunteers sets up the hall for the dinner,” Mr Wasicki told The Bee amid the hustle and bustle at the Parish Center Christmas morning. “Then, when the hall is set and the food is ready, Rose West gets her crew to assemble the meals going out to individual homes.”

Mr Wasicki pointed out a long row of chairs along the wall, each containing a sheaf of papers where volunteers ranging in age from preteens to seniors began stacking individual bags containing complete meals.

“Each chair has a food order and a map for each driver so he or she can complete the deliveries,” Mr Wasicki said. “After the drivers are done, they either go on to family dinners or come back here to the hall.”

Although Mr Middleton had to forgo attending the dinner to be with his daughter and her newborn baby, he said in a subsequent interview that planning for the holiday meal initiative, and an earlier and smaller-scale Thanksgiving project, begins in early October.

“We really consider the Thanksgiving and Christmas activities to be one single project, so we don’t have a lot of duplication of effort,” he said. “We do all the major food preparation in the kitchen at the high school, which is health department approved for this type of situation, and then we handle the food according to the Health Director’s instructions for reheating at St Rose just prior to serving.”

At about 11 Christmas morning, the St Rose Center was a beehive of activity, with drivers receiving delivery instructions from volunteer Mark Rebb from Congregation Adath Israel, nearly two dozen other volunteers packing meals, and additional volunteers putting the finishing touches on cookie platters and Santa’s visiting area.

While all this is happening at St Rose, Newtown Registrar of Voters Lorraine Frampton, who is also a bus owner-operator, is picking up guests for the sit-down community meal from across the region. Queta Donovan and Reggie Cernick served as Spanish-speaking volunteers on the bus trip, Mr Wasicki said.

Just about the time the last homebound meal is going out, the community meal guests start pouring in.

“It’s a wonderful feeling you get,” Mr Wasicki said. “People were so thankful. We had one woman who only spoke Spanish. But she came in and hugged every single volunteer and wished us all ‘Feliz Navidad.’”

As the community dinner commences, Santa’s helper, Russ Cernick, suits up to dispense toys and gifts to the many children in attendance.

“We had one driver who brought in a bunch of toys,” Mr Wasicki said. “She said she obtained an order for a Toys for Tots drive, and then got another order just for our event. This is the kind of thing that makes our event so very special.”