Matt Labay spent his Thanksgiving serving up a hot plate for his Burlington neighbors. He and some parishioners at the First United Methodist Church held their own holiday feast to give to the homeless and anyone else in their community who needed a place to stay warm and fill their stomachs on Thanksgiving Day.”It was a gut feeling three years ago, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Labay said.At least 150 people stopped in to break bread Thursday. They are already looking forward to their next community dinner.”We don’t have a location yet, but we did last Christmas. Christmas was huge,” Labay said. Down the road was a similar sight and menu. The Fletcher Free Library handed out at least 75 free meals. It’s something that they try to do each year when the holidays come around.”There’s not a lot of places that are open on Thanksgiving, so we feel that the library is the community’s living room,” said library director Mary Danko. “We’re happy to have people come for whatever reason.”There is more where that came from. The library plans to offer hot chocolate and desserts for Christmas.Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said anyone can stop in to dine with their community this holiday season, even if you have a meal at home.”It’s not just on Thanksgiving that we come together for people who are hungry or for people that are experiencing homelessness, but that our community shows up in the same way throughout the entire year and for every single day,” Siegel said. End Homelessness Vermont just launched their Make it Home project, a statewide effort to help the homeless get what they need this holiday season.
Matt Labay spent his Thanksgiving serving up a hot plate for his Burlington neighbors. He and some parishioners at the First United Methodist Church held their own holiday feast to give to the homeless and anyone else in their community who needed a place to stay warm and fill their stomachs on Thanksgiving Day.
“It was a gut feeling three years ago, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Labay said.
Advertisement
At least 150 people stopped in to break bread Thursday. They are already looking forward to their next community dinner.
“We don’t have a location yet, but we did last Christmas. Christmas was huge,” Labay said.
Down the road was a similar sight and menu. The Fletcher Free Library handed out at least 75 free meals. It’s something that they try to do each year when the holidays come around.
“There’s not a lot of places that are open on Thanksgiving, so we feel that the library is the community’s living room,” said library director Mary Danko. “We’re happy to have people come for whatever reason.”
There is more where that came from. The library plans to offer hot chocolate and desserts for Christmas.
Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said anyone can stop in to dine with their community this holiday season, even if you have a meal at home.
“It’s not just on Thanksgiving that we come together for people who are hungry or for people that are experiencing homelessness, but that our community shows up in the same way throughout the entire year and for every single day,” Siegel said.
End Homelessness Vermont just launched their Make it Home project, a statewide effort to help the homeless get what they need this holiday season.
