More than 100 volunteers with St. Katherine of Siena Parish in Torresdale donated 500 tins of food and blankets to those in need.
On Saturday, members of St. Katherine of Siena Parish in Torresdale joined one another for Family Volunteer Day.
The event, run by their Parish Youth Ministry, has taken place for seven years. Students, families and parishioners spent the day volunteering toward a variety of organizations.
Colleen Sharp, director of parish services, for the past five years has helped oversee this operation. She explained what makes this a special occasion for the St. Katherine parishioners.
“We really like this event, because №1, it’s right before Thanksgiving, which I think kind of gives everybody a little pause before the holidays, before the rush, and they can just think about what they’re grateful for.”
At 10 a.m., the 100-plus volunteers convened in McBride Hall to start preparing meals. The kitchen was bustling with adults preparing Thanksgiving-style meals that were distributed to other volunteers in the gymnasium who placed them in silver tins.
One of those busy at work in the kitchen was Dan Coonan.
Coonan, president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of St. Katherine’s, is eager to help out in whatever way is needed for the day. Each year, Coonan seems to have a different role, but this year he was tasked with carving turkeys.
Despite this specific assignment taking up to a couple of hours, Coonan feeds off of the vibe in McBride Hall.
“There’s just a whole lot going on here and there’s a lot of spirit and a lot of energy in this building,” he said. “It’s just amazing how quickly this goes from nobody in here to everything set up, and all the food is assembled.”
The 500 tins of food later gets distributed by Aid for Friends and will be delivered to parish shut-ins.
The cook-in is a staple for the Family Volunteer Day, but each year includes different projects by the parishioners.
“We’re always looking for new ideas, different things to do with the kids, to do within the parish,” said Sharp.
Holiday cards for veterans and the making of rosaries for the military were this year’s newest additions to the effort.
Sarah Janulewicz, of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, was hard at work with others around the table making rosaries. Janulewicz mentioned the group had met one time before making rosaries in preparation of the day’s events.
“We have great participation here because there’s a lot of people who aren’t a part of the Catholic Daughters helping us out,” she said. “We’re hoping to making it (the rosaries) an ongoing mission in the parish.”
In addition to the meals, cards and rosaries, children and adults were working on comfort blankets.
The making of these no-sew fleece blankets is a part of Project Linus, which provides blankets to comfort kids in need.
The comfort blankets made at St. Katherine are donated to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
After several hours of hard work, the volunteers concluded their day of service by making a trip to the Immaculate Mary Center for crafts.
Those who have been involved with this day in the parish for years are impressed with how it has grown.
The Rev. Paul M. Kennedy, the pastor, said the day has grown tremendously over the years, but the mission has remained the same.
“We really focused on the two words of family and volunteering.”
Seeing the children take an active role in this process is what particularly stands out for Kennedy.
“There’s almost an awakening that comes with it,” Kennedy said. “In other programs like Build a Bear workshop, they build the bear and bring it home with them. Here, they prepare it (various projects) and it goes to someone else. It may be the first time they’re doing something and it’s for someone else.”
Frank Coyne, Aid for Friends coordinator for St. Katherine’s, reiterated the importance of children being involved in this day.
“The parents are trying to teach their kids about the need for helping out in the community, volunteering, being a part of the community,” Coyne said. “There’s no better way to start teaching them.”
The next time St. Katherine will participate in a similar event will be its Lenten Day of Service, which is the Saturday before Palm Sunday. This will include the typical cook-in, but in place of the blankets being donated, they will donate “chemo-care kits” for kids going through chemotherapy. ••
John Cole can be reached at jcole@bsmphilly.com
