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Mostly Cloudy Food and fellowship on Thanksgiving in East Rockaway, Lynbrook
Church parish members volunteer to help bring community together on holiday
There will be plenty to be thankful for in East Rockaway and Lynbrook this Thanksgiving, as plans are in place, through the work of parishes and volunteers, to ensure that no one goes hungry or has to spend the holiday alone.
At the Bethany Congregational Church, the parish is hosting a free Thanksgiving meal open to all.
“In a time where people are so fragmented and polarized, it’s really good to be able to bring people together around things like food and fellowship,” Rev. Mark Lukens said. “We’re gonna eat together and be grateful together and talk and have a good time. That’s what it’s all about.”
The Bethany Church meal is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Lukens said the dinner is open to anyone who wants to come because they are in need, would like company on the holiday or for any other reason.
The church has been hosting the annual dinner for about a decade, Lukens said, as a way to provide a fresh meal to anyone looking for one. It has become an annual tradition, which has been organized by church member Barbara Herrmann and her husband, Doug, for the last seven years. Barbara Herrmann said they have plenty of help from the congregation and volunteers.
“We feel no one should spend Thanksgiving by themselves,” Herrmann said. “We try to make it as much of a community event as possible.”
Turkey and all the trimmings and sides are served on formal silverware, and the volunteers eat with the attendees.
Lukens said that the number of volunteers spiked on Thanksgiving 2012. After Hurricane Sandy hit East Rockaway hard roughly a month before the holiday, many residents were even more willing to help out than usual.
“This is a great community,” Lukens said. “We found that out during Sandy. Every time we needed something, I put it on Facebook and it would appear. Not just from our community, but from all over the country. They want to do something worthwhile and you just have to give them a way to do it.”
About 75 people are expected to attend Thursday's dinner at the church, but Lukens said there can be up to 100 attendees in any given year. For people who can’t be there, volunteers will make a plate and bring it to their home. Leftovers are donated to local soup kitchens, including the Mary Brennan INN in Hempstead. Last year there weren’t any leftovers, Lukens said, because the group provided and delivered so many meals.
“This is just about a happy community,” Lukens said. “Families are spread all over. Kids can’t get home for the holidays. People are alone. This is a way of building community, and that’s what churches are all about: Building communities and bringing people together.”
Our Lady of Peace
At Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church, there is plenty of food being donated, some by the Lynbrook Police Benevolent Association.
Sister Barbara Faber, who runs the Parish Social Ministry, said there have been many donations to help out the community through parishioners, local businesses and others.
“For Thanksgiving, we give out extra food to our regular clients as well as extra gift cards to the supermarket,” Faber said. “We also send gift cards and candy baskets to some of the home-bound and the senior citizens. Some of the surplus food that we receive, we’re able to send to some of the other areas that don’t have the resources that we do.”
The church’s social ministry advocates for the lonely and the poor. The ministry assists them via the use of a food pantry, by giving them employment assistance and by teaching them English as a Second Language, according to the parish’s official website.
The Lynbrook PBA has been giving an annual donation to the church’s food pantry for over 30 years. That donation includes about $250 worth of turkeys and side dishes to provide Thanksgiving meals.
The PBA is made up mostly of Lynbrook police officers, many of whom live or grew up locally and have belonged to Our Lady of Peace. The group also recognizes Faber as a stalwart of the neighborhood, according to PBA member Brian Paladino.
“We know how hard Sister Barbara and her staff work to feed the hungry,” Paladino said. “Our organization just believes that Thanksgiving is a time of year when the pantry is overburdened with requests.”
With the pantry doing all it can, Paladino and the PBA pitch in to provide much-needed help this time of year. The PBA also throws an annual senior citizens barbecue in which it also partners with Our Lady of Peace. After the event is over, leftover and unprepared food goes to the church’s food pantry for distribution to the less fortunate.
With Thanksgiving coming up, Paladino is hoping to once again help make the community aware of those in need. “We really use this donation as a way to raise awareness to the community that there are hungry people in Our Lady of Peace Parish and the Lynbrook community,” he said. “One must remember the pantry as an essential part of our community’s spirit.”
