Community-Wide Involvement Sacred Heart’s Thanksgiving Meal Supports 1000 Lebanon Seniors Annually

Half a century ago in the 1970s, Lebanon’s annual charitable Thanksgiving Meal began. Run by Sacred Heart Catholic Church, this Thanksgiving service tradition has been providing roughly 800 to 1000 meals each year of late to the elderly of Lebanon. For several years, the meal count was over 2,000, delivering to personal residences throughout the far reaches of the region on Thanksgiving Day, without question.

Hands and hearts from organizations and families across the Upper Valley make this high-yield service feat possible

Volunteer chefs, students, parish members, area citizens, and financial donors from throughout the Upper Valley provide essential contributions – making it a cross-community act of service.

Len Angelli, a career-long Cardigan Mountain School (CMS) educator, was tapped to direct the process 17 years ago. “Father William Kaliyadan invited me to attend a committee meeting on the Thanksgiving Meal,” he recounts. “The meeting begins, and suddenly Fr. William announces that I am the Director –  in perpetuity.”

Angelli has not looked back. In recent years, 30-40 volunteers have worked behind the scenes on-site – on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday as able; others for a whole week. Some years over a hundred volunteers pitched in altogether.  Angelli himself puts in a sizable amount of hours weeks and months before – while others are still dipping toes into ocean tides and diving into pools.

John Pomeroy, the Volunteer Coordinator for the last several years, takes the entire week off from work. Pomeroy is also the Grand Knight for the Lebanon council of the Knights of Columbus, a global community service organization charged with caring for families in crisis and the elderly. Pomeroy is one of many Knights who volunteer for the Thanksgiving Meal annually, and in many other charitable capacities in Lebanon. The Upper Valley’s four area Knights councils altogether contribute tens of thousands of dollars annually to Upper Valley food banks and Lebanon-based agencies supporting families in crisis. In the state of New Hampshire overall, Knights councils contribute millions annually to charities serving children, families, and the elderly.

John Pomeroy, Volunteer Coordinator of the Thanksgiving Meal for 3 years and Grand Knight of the Lebanon Knights of Columbus council, a global community service organization.

Pomeroy, a citizen of Lebanon for 14 years, is a network engineer by day, developing blueprint schematics for the crews of Consolidated who lay fiber optic cable.  A military kid to a career Marine Corps officer pilot, Pomeroy has lived on both the West and East Coasts of the United States. He also served in the Marines. “Our Lebanon council volunteers throughout the year wherever we are needed. The Thanksgiving Meal program is certainly a well-oiled machine,” he describes. “An incredible system.”

He paints a picture of chefs at Dartmouth Health, Alice Peck Day, Kimball Union Academy and CMS preparing and delivering food back to Sacred Heart. Innumerable restaurants, grocery stores, banks, and families give hefty sums and provisions. Pomeroy’s three children attend Lebanon public schools. Depending on one’s experience in the military and with parenting, life post-military as a father and community service leader has been more peaceful. He knows first hand it takes a village to raise kids – and take care of the elderly.

“Roughly 60% of the volunteers are not from the Sacred Heart parish,” he notes. Pomeroy is quick to pay tribute to the employees at Dartmouth Health and Alice Peck Day who read the posted flyers and call in to volunteer each year; to Paul, a local mail delivery driver, who volunteers annually; and to Jorge, a volunteer who, for years, created the vast driving routes for all meal deliveries.  Lastly, Angelli credits Father Charles Pawlowski, who pastors at Sacred Heart, whom Angelli describes as “my rock.” Fr. Pawlowski also serves as Executive Director behind the scenes, shaping the program’s direction and vision.

This coming-together demonstrates love in action, a full unity of hands giving to bodies and hearts most in need.

Len Angelli has directed the Thanksgiving Community Meal for 17 years running.

Ryan Sinclair, who along with Angelli, has been a career-long educator at CMS, brings a dozen young men annually to volunteer. These international students of ages 11-15 under Sinclair’s own program, develop hands quick to serve others less fortunate.

How do Angelli and Sinclair culminate the high-intensity week of Thanksgiving orchestrating a large scale food operation and mentoring youth on leading by serving?

By sitting down with their international students over a traditional Thanksgiving meal in a home setting –  perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance for kids who might soon be returning abroad following boarding school.

After the two educators finish sharing this time-honored American tradition, they start a campfire for the boys.

A campfire on Thanksgiving…?

Why not?

Sinclair is no stranger to crafting memorable experiences for youth. He watched his own parents devote themselves to teaching as well. Sinclair arrived in the Upper Valley in the autumn of 1998 to study at Dartmouth and played Division I hockey as a forward. Originally from a small town in northern Ontario, Sinclair became close with his Dartmouth teammates, many also Canadians. Four years later, Sinclair graduated with an Ivy League degree and a season under his belt studying in South Africa. But he refused to join his best friends in New York City, Boston, or San Francisco where high-yield corporate careers beckoned. This regardless of the scale of that track’s possibilities, a path reserved for elite higher education all-stars, considered by many the penultimate opportunity, nearly guaranteeing an elite lifestyle.

Where does he stand today on this choice?  “I feel genuinely happy,” reflects Sinclair. Sinclair has lived on the boarding school campus in Canaan with his wife, Sarah, and two pre-teen boys for all but two years of their marriage. Early on in their relationship, the couple spent those two years out of the Upper Valley in Grenoble, France to obtain his MBA, funded by a Rotary scholarship.

Though rooted here throughout his adult years, Sinclair has explored across 70 countries. During the much awaited summer holidays when other educators are catching their breath and families are packing for vacations or camp, Sinclair packs his passport and kisses his family farewell. Since 2009 he has directed his own month-long operation that has grown by leaps and bounds: a South African service and cultural exploration trip; also through his brain-child program, Ivy Leader.

Ivy Leader’s international students wrap up their volunteering experience with a home-style Thanksgiving experience… and a campfire.

His program’s students safari one week and serve young children in disadvantaged schools the next.

So serving in Lebanon is the tip of the iceberg for these “future leaders” that Sinclair mentors; Serving in Lebanon one season and in South Africa another— as though the limits of one’s impact are but a mental construct.

Seven years back, Sinclair received the Distinguished Class of ‘02 Award by Dartmouth College, in recognition of service to others.

Altogether, Sacred Heart parish members, international middle schoolers, and other volunteers come out in large numbers to spend hundreds of hours dicing, baking, packaging, and cleaning. One full day is devoted to simply roasting, deboning, and packaging turkey. Calls used to be put out to Catholic church parishioners from Lebanon to Enfield and Canaan and beyond to take home a turkey from Sacred Heart to bake and bring back – or to provide a homemade pie – or three.  “We used to make homemade stuffing and pies, too,” Angelli remembers.

Because Sacred Heart’s food delivery service was stretched beyond capacity for several years running, it became necessary to streamline the process. As such, the program began soliciting donations of baked goods and rolls. Angelli also began using donations to purchase pre-made mashed potatoes and squash.

Still, how is this grand-scaled operation feasible? “A refrigerated food truck rests outside Sacred Heart for a full week,” Angelli shares. Various mechanical systems can make refrigeration possible while a vehicle engine remains off. Now, senior centers throughout Lebanon and West Lebanon receive an abundant meal of mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, squash, desserts, rolls, and main course items.

Though Angelli organizes and directs the bulk of this colossal operation himself over a four month stretch, a bedrock of parish members and community members return annually. Altogether, he recognizes, “we at Sacred Heart couldn’t do it without the full community’s support.”

Note: Sacred Heart Catholic Church is always looking for volunteers and donations. Please contact Len Angelli at mailto:langelli@cardigan.org to support the cause financially or logistically, as an individual, family, organization, or business.