Church offers help during holidays

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By Donna Frischknecht

Freda Arquette is looking forward to Thanksgiving. So is Sandy Berg.
The women, who live at Skenesborough Harbor, a senior housing complex on Elizabeth Street in Whitehall, will be serving up a huge side of community-building along with turkey and stuffing when they help hand out free Thanksgiving dinners to its residents.
The meals are part of the Whitehall United Methodist Church’s annual Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner, now in its 13th year, served 300 people last year, said church member Maxine Willis.
“The dinner means a lot to people,” Berg said. “It is so very nice of the church to do this.”
While Berg and Arquette will be celebrating Thanksgiving with family members this year, both women would not miss out on the joy of knocking on their neighbors’ doors to hand them what Berg describes as a “good portion” of turkey and trimmings and a chance to say hello. Arquette agrees.
“I’ll be having dinner with family at 3 p.m., but that gives me enough time to deliver these meals to others,” she said. “I love helping in this way.”
Last year, residents had the opportunity to sign up for the home delivered meal. Janice Slichko, Skenesborough Harbor property manager said about 20 residents did so, with a small group choosing to eat together rather than returning to their apartments alone. This year, Whitehall United Methodist is providing 48 dinners, enough to cover all of Skenesborough Harbor’s 40 residents with extras for sharing.
“We realized there were many people in Skenesborough Harbor who probably would be alone for Thanksgiving, thus, the decision to provide meals for all,” said Willis.
Slichko hopes that these Thanksgiving diners will encourage more of the residents to break bread together in the community center. “We realize, though, it’s not easy for some of our residents to leave their apartments,” she said.
It was a similar realization that led Whitehall United Methodist to offer home delivery as part of its Thanksgiving dinner. From the very beginning, the church sought to deliver a sense of community to those who could not come to the actual gathering.
“The idea for this dinner came out of a Bible study group,” Willis said. “The more we thought about how to help others, the more we kept thinking about this dinner.”
Willis added that the dinner would not be possible without the donations from individuals and the support of Whitehall’s businesses.
A few years ago, though, it became apparent that home delivery was growing in importance as members of the church’s Companions in Christ Fellowship, organizers of the event, noticed familiar faces were missing from the tables.
“Many of our seniors can’t drive anymore,” said Ruth Scribner, church member and Thanksgiving dinner volunteer. So among the need for volunteer potato peelers and clean-up crew, more delivery drivers were needed. The community heard and came forward. Among the drivers was Whitehall resident and now college student, John Diekel.
Diekel volunteered previous years while home from school. It was an experience he said he will never forget.
“Helping deliver food to those who do not have it or have the means of obtaining it gave me one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” Diekel said. “I truly believe the most important thing in life is to help others, in any way you can.”
This year’s dinner runs Thanksgiving Day from noon to 2 p.m. The Whitehall United Methodist Church is located at Greenmount Cemetery Lane.