For those who are without permanent housing, the holidays can be a sad and lonely time.
The efforts of volunteers during this time can make a big difference for residents of local shelters, such as Opportunity House and the Hope Rescue Mission, both in Reading, said Modesto Fiume, president of Opportunity House.
“They (volunteers) are literally taking time away from their families and friends to spend time with folks who don’t necessarily have a strong family around them,” Fiume said. “The volunteers help make them feel special. I can never say enough about the people who come in to help.”
For some, like Alneasa Jordan, volunteering at Opportunity House, 430 N. Second St., has become an annual Christmas tradition.
It started in 2017 when Jordan of Lower Alsace Township recruited a few family members and friends to cook Christmas dinner for residents of shelter.
This year they changed the routine, serving dinner on Christmas Eve instead and adding as helpers employees of Sunsweet Growers, Fleetwood, and members of the United Labor Council of Reading Berks County.
What did not change was the delicious hand-cooked meal and enormous pile of donated presents distributed by the group to the residents.
“We had about 30 volunteers and it was great,” Jordan said Sunday, after hours spent preparing and serving the baked ham, turkey and sides and doling out the gifts. “We helped 35 families today.”
On Christmas Day at the shelter, an evening dinner was made and served by Kitchen Connect.
The group stepped in at the last minute after previously scheduled volunteers had to bow out, Fiume said.
“Basically, our thing is to focus on what Jesus would do,” said Suzanne Snell, organizer. “Jesus helped the poor, the sick and the needy. So that is what we focus on.”
The informally organized group of friends and families is made up of believers of the Seventh Day Adventist faith, but is not church affiliated, she said.
Fiume said he was particularly grateful for the spur-of-the-moment effort.
“The people who come in this time of year just make it really special for our clients,” Fiume said. “These folks (shelter residents) often don’t have a lot of family or nearby family to help, so it is great to see the folks who care enough about them come in and spend some time brightening their lives.”
Brightening the lives of others was also the motivation for volunteers Ed and Lavelle Zimmerman.
The Bowmansville couple were among those who turned out in force Monday to make and serve Christmas dinner to residents and guests of Hope Rescue Mission.
After deciding on Thanksgiving to spend their Christmas Day in the service of others, Lavelle searched the internet for volunteer opportunities and hit on the mission, 645 N. Sixth St.
They were impressed by the many people of varying faiths who came together under the direction of the mission’s chef, Ron Nolan.
The meal was open to residents and anyone from the local unsheltered community, said Robert Turchi, CEO, noting the mission will observe a landmark anniversary in 2024.
“This will be the 130th consecutive year that the mission has been offering food, shelter, clothing, special meals on holidays,” he said, “and just a place to call home and to be safe and to belong.”
For Mark “Cowboy” Roberto the mission is just what Turchi described.
Roberto, 62, was among those who crowded into the packed dining hall to partake in the feast.
A four-year client of Hope Rescue, he recently moved to independent living at the mission’s Hope House on South Ninth Street.
The native of Montgomery County left the Pottstown area several years ago in the hopes of leaving behind the drugs and other influences that had negatively impacted his life.
He moved in with relatives in Berks County, but their lifestyle was not conducive to his recovery, he said.
A Bechtelsville police officer pointed him to the mission, where he was able to change his life.
Roberto, who holds a degree in landscaping, now serves as chief landscaper and groundkeeper for the mission and directs a crew made up of other mission clients.
“They (the Hope Rescue Mission) are here for everyone, men, women and children,” he said. “All they ask is that you follow the rules. This place will take care of you if you take care of it.”
In addition to serving a community meal in the men’s shelter, volunteers also prepared Christmas dinners that were delivered to the families living in the mission’s Lighthouse women and children’s shelter, Turchi said.
Source: Berkshire mont