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Community Corner

Religious Organizations Helped Feed Several Families on Thanksgiving

New Hyde Park residents receives hot meals and gift certificates from churches.

"Our underlying mission is to reach out to those in need," said Sister Ann Horgan, director of social ministry at , which is exactly what several religious organizations throughout the area did this Thanksgiving.

While most families gather together around a dining room table, there are many who spend this holiday alone. With this in mind, the parishes of and Holy Spirit as well as collaborated with a few other organizations to provide meals for several less fortunate families in New Hyde Park.

The social ministry of Notre Dame Church spent several weeks compiling a list of elderly seniors and individuals who would be spending Thanksgiving without family or friends.

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In collaboration with Brasserie 214 at , which cooked all of the food, the church with the help of its volunteer drivers delivered complete hot meals to 18 people within the community.

Monetary donations were also collected by ushers of the church after all of the masses on November 20 and 21, according to Gloria Boyd, director of social ministry at Notre Dame. These donations were all used to provide enough turkey to feed five additional needy families, she said.

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The church also held a card ministry which sent cards to many members of the parish who could not go out for Thanksgiving.

The social ministry office also received many holiday donations from the Cub Pack 544, New Hyde Park Homemakers, Columbiettes of New Hyde Park, Knights of Columbus Seniors, Notre Dame Rosary Society and many individual parishioners. Some members also provided food and or prepared complete turkey dinners for needy families in the parish.

Holy Spirit Church also contributed to help many poor families in the community have a happy Thanksgiving.

The Church helped feed about 100 people from their food pantry during the week of Thanksgiving. Impoverished families were invited to come to its food pantry and take whatever they needed, including non perishable foods, breads, sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruits, coffee, rice and some turkeys.

"It's amazing when people come and you see the gratitude on their faces," Sister Ann Horgan said.

The church received donations from St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, New Hyde Park Homemakers, The Elks and Does of New Hyde Park, the Scouts and a few other organizations. The students of Holy Spirits' Religious Education program also collected donations for this cause.

According to Horgan, the also selected a small group of eight New Hyde Park families in need to receive money in addition to the food provided.

Both Holy Spirit and Notre Dame Church also provided other families with gift cards from supermarket chains such as Key Food, King Kullen, and .

Temple Tikvah was yet another religious group that helped needy families this Thanksgiving. Marcie Kesner, social action committee member, said on Thanksgiving morning 10 cars of congregants of all ages from Temple Tikvah delivered hot holiday meals and gifts to people with life-threatening illnesses in Queens for God's Love We Deliver.  

The temple will be doing this again on the morning before Christmas. 

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