A bountiful Christmas Eve for over 300
MONTICELLO – The Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless served
approximately 350 dinners, Monday, during their 21st Annual Christmas
Eve Dinner.
The salmon, pork shoulder, vegetable lasagna and green bean casserole dinner, which included a large desert spread, was not the only feature for folks attending the dinner to enjoy. Santa Claus was available for photo-ops with children, where each child, 12 and under, could receive a present from Santa along with a Polaroid photo of the experience to take home with them. Also, various gift baskets were raffled off, with an additional grand-prize of a large cart of food raffled off as well.
In addition to the federation’s four regular employees, an additional 15 to 20 volunteers helped to serve, cook and greet people.
Program Administrator for the Homeless Kathy Kreiter said putting on
this dinner each year is all about giving those members of the community
who are having a rough time a brief respite and letting them enjoy a holiday
celebration that many of us take for granted.
“I kind of think of it as: life happens,” said Kreiter. “Whoever is struggling out there, they were struggling before they came in to have dinner tonight and they’re probably going to struggle when they walk out; but, for that hour that they got to sit here and be waited on and see the kids happy with Santa, and just kind of leave everything behind for an hour – that feels good. You can’t take away everybody’s troubles in an hour, but hopefully people walked away with a smile on their face.”
Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless is the only daily soup kitchen in the county. On a daily basis, they serve approximately 150 meals and serve approximately 135 families in total through their community and veteran food pantries.
Although the federation receives a yearly grant through the Regional Food Bank of the Northeast, and a contract for housing provisions through the state, they receive most of their support through the community.
Kreiter said they are always looking for volunteers to help in various capacities, for these dinners, other events and daily operations. She asks anyone looking to contribute to contact the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless for more information.
