The annual Thanksgiving dinner in St. Aloysius Church’s community center provided a holiday meal to those in need on Columbus’ west side and an opportunity for the faithful to serve the underserved who in some cases are struggling to survive.
A crew of volunteers ranging from doctors to students gathered on the morning of Nov. 28 to prepare and serve 500-600 Thanksgiving dinners to adults of all ages and children at St. Aloysius, volunteer chef Tim Miller said.
Another 200-250 meals were delivered to homeless camps and other locations. In addition, food was taken to the homebound at senior centers and to homes for recovering alcoholics.
Donated articles of clothing, including much-needed winter wear to combat the falling temperatures, and household items were also offered onsite to guests.
Sandy Bonneville, coordinator for the event who began volunteering 28 years ago, has seen the need grow from 100 meals and some turkey deliveries in the neighborhood when she first became involved to the numbers served today.
“Which is not a good thing because it means there are more hungry people out there,” she said.
Some of the people who attended Thursday’s dinner have jobs and families, but they only make enough money to barely survive. Some live in alleys or in tents.
“This is why I believe this church (St. Aloysius) is meant for this time,” Bonneville said. “The gym turns into a dining room for everybody that’s hungry because, let’s face it, most people on Thanksgiving are with their families. But these people aren’t able to do that. They haven’t the food or the place to serve it.”
For the second straight year, Bishop Earl Fernandes came to volunteer and to talk and pray with the visitors in the gym.
Other volunteers included Dr. Sameek Roychowdhury, an oncologist at Ohio State University’s James Cancer Center, and Rich Finn, former director of the Catholic Cemeteries of Columbus. Each has been coming for five years.
For the past 10 years, the Columbus Folk Music Society has provided musical entertainment throughout the dinner.
“I stand at this door sometimes when everybody is starting to eat and are settled down and are singing along with the music, (and) I look out and see that they’re not hungry anymore and they feel loved,” Bonneville said.
“As Catholics, I don’t think this is anything special. I think it’s something we all are called to do. For years, I wrestled with, ‘Why, why so many poor people? Why, why?’ And it finally dawned on me: God gave the poor to us as a gift. So as we are blessing somebody, we become like Christ. And when you’re blessing somebody, you in turn are being blessed.
“It’s evangelization is what it is.”
