Parish's dinner has become community-builder in village

"Once the tourists go home at the end of the summer, things really settle down here," said Rev. Joseph O'Brien, pastor of Sacred Heart parish. "People retire to their homes, which are often far out of town; and if they are unemployed or sick or without a vehicle to make it into town for help, we have no way of knowing that they are in need.

"We found that some local people were not only unemployed for the winter months, but also were going hungry. If they didn't say anything to anyone, they were hard to identify. What does a hungry person look like?"

Bridging the gap

"The dinner is open to anyone who wishes to have a home-cooked meal, enjoy some local entertainment and visit with their neighbors," said Kathy Dorman, secretary of Sacred Heart parish and co-founder of the dinner program.

The results have been so successful, she reported, that they are "filled up" nearly every Wednesday evening in the parish hall, where the dinners are served by volunteer teams. "We've been serving anywhere between 70 and 90 people," Mrs. Dorman said.

Our of Renew

"This year, our third, we have seven teams, so each team only has to work a dinner every seven weeks," she added.

The parish donates the hall and the food that each team cooks. "It averages out to about $4,000 a year," she said. "We cut costs wherever we can, relying on donations."

Community

"We came a few times last year," said Mary Chernansky, speaking for her family. "What is nice is that the boys have a chance to visit with some of their friends from school, and the atmosphere is always fun and welcoming. We love living here, but sometimes, especially during the winter months, people become isolated. The dinners are a great way to visit with your neighbors."

"What we're really trying to do here is to bring the community together for some food and fellowship," said Father O'Brien. "We certainly can't feed the whole world from Sacred Heart's parish hall, but it is a beginning. We're making a difference in our community. Any parish can do what we're doing. It just takes a little bit of organization."

Mary Tessier, who has been a parishioner of Sacred Heart for 34 years, put it another way: "There are no outsiders in Lake George."

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