Thirty years ago, 10 gray-and-silver haired men from the Brotherhood of the Community Synagogue met at King Kullen in Port Washington. They loaded their cars with donations of food to bring to Our Lady of Fatima to donate to their Parish Outreach program.
This same group and others like them have been meeting every Sunday before Thanksgiving since. They meet out of respect for and in memory of Phil Seinfeld, who passed away all too soon many years ago. Phil started the first Brotherhood Thanksgiving Food drive to benefit the Parish Outreach program in Manorhaven.
Under the direction of Sister Kathy, Parish Outreach has been giving out dinners for 30 years to those who are not able to provide a Thanksgiving meal to their families. They are not just parishioners but anyone who calls the Outreach and demonstrates a need.
In other times the Brotherhood men, using long shopping lists, would race through the store aisles with flying carts, creating mayhem wherever they landed. Some of the younger guys headed for the turkeys, while those in their 70s and 80s would head for the much lighter bread stuffing. When all gathered at checkout, Bob Richter — who took over the program after Phil had died — would send them back to collect what was missing.
Over the years, the folks at King Kullen have helped out by pre-boxing and tallying every item in advance, which has removed some of the excitement and mayhem.
Since King Kullen closed a couple of years ago, Stop and Shop has helped continue this wonderful tradition, providing us with the same generosity King Kullen did for so many previous years.
This year, volunteers loaded the crates and cartons onto SUVs and into car trunks before making the short journey to the parish parking lot on Manorhaven Boulevard.
There, teams of volunteers led by Sister Kathy helped to move the 40 full dinners to kitchen freezers and onto tables. Later that same day, the parish opened its doors to an abundance of families to receive one of the turkey dinners.
Without the support of the Brotherhood of the Community Synagogue, Our Lady of Fatima, and all of their extended families, this event wouldn’t be as strong as it is today.
A very special thanks to Sister Kathy and Bob Richter for keeping this tradition so strong for all these years. Phil Seinfeld is looking down on everything with a proud thankful smile on his face knowing this extraordinary cause continues so strong annually.
“There really is no limit to how many dinners we could donate,” said Bob Richter, a past president said. “In these times, too many will not experience the comfort of a family sitting around a Thanksgiving dining room table.
If anyone would like to make a charitable donation towards these efforts, please contact Sister Kathy of Our Lady of Fatima or Bob Richter/Bert Tobin of the Brotherhood of the Community Synagogue.
