Seton Center shares first Thanksgiving Community meal

ALISHA YOCUM

While the holidays bring joy to many families, they can also create financial stress for others during this time. Seton Center Executive Director Deb Bisenieks said that this is the first year that they have served a hot meal as part of their Helping Hands program.

In the past, the organization has simply handed out gift cards to local grocery stores. However, Seton Center felt that this didn’t really meet the intention of its program to celebrate the holiday. They already offer food and security services to fill the gap for those needing help with groceries throughout the year. On Thanksgiving Day, the group served 103 individuals, with roughly half of those being carryout meals. Bisenieks also delivered 12 meals to the Adams County Shelter for the Homeless.

Helping Hands Caring Hearts, another local non-profit, based out of Frederick, participated in the event, giving bags of non-perishable food to each family.

“It takes a village to help those in need. We can’t do it without our donors, sponsors, community businesses, and local non-profits, including churches,” said Bisenieks. Thirty-five volunteers spent their day helping package and serve the meal.

Missy Gladhill, a volunteer, said “I wanted to help people in the community. I am fortunate enough to have what we need, so I wanted to give back.”

The Seton Center would like to thank the following businesses for their donations: Jubilee Foods, Thurmont Hillside Turkey Farm, Thurmont Kountry Kitchen, Bollinger’s Restaurant, Carriage House, Shriver’s Meat, Vigilant Hose Company, Daughters of Charity, Helping Hands Caring Hearts, Wegmans, Food Lion, Weis, and Catoctin Mountain Orchard.

Seton Center also ran a Helping Hands event for Christmas. As part of that program, families received gift certificates to local grocery stores to help with holiday meals and gifts. Each year, Bisenieks explained, they collect $25 gift cards to local grocery stores, Walmart, and Target, to assist with this program.

If you are interested in donating or helping at future Helping Hand events, please contact the Seton Center at [email protected] or call 301-447-6102.