NORTHAMPTON – A cardboard sign set against the wall in the Fellowship Hall of Edwards Church said it all:
“Homeless for the Holidays Please Help.”
About 150 people were expected to attend Sunday’s MANNA Soup Kitchen Christmas Day meal although organizer Lee Anderson said they had enough food for about 300 people.
“No one should have to be homeless or hungry in this society,” Carl Erickson said.
Erickson is the president of the MANNA Board of Directors and has been in that role for more than two decades.
In addition to meals eaten inside Edwards Church, about 115 meals were delivered by volunteers to homes throughout the area, according to Anderson. To feed that many people, it took more than 100 volunteers over three long days.
“To the people who volunteer, it means everything,” Anderson said. “It validates the feeling you have about the organization. I’m not the only one who cares about the organization.”
Just as with the Thanksgiving meal, guests were invited to choose seats and be served like in a restaurant rather than stand in line for a buffet.
“While they wait for their food, hopefully a little fellowship happens,” Anderson said.
Twenty minutes before noon, small groups of people gathered, beginning to fill the hall decorated with hanging stars, poinsettias and red and green tablecloths and napkins.
Forty-five different dessert options filled numerous tables at the front of the room. Behind them waited about 15 more choices not including the pumpkin pies waiting to be served.
Eight months sober, Anthony Peddy, 52, of Boston, sat around table laughing and taking pictures. Peddy said he heard about the Christmas dinner and didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was his first Christmas meal with Manna.
“The last few years, I’d be out doing the wrong thing,” Peddy said. “Now, I’m trying to do things differently … I’m very grateful for this.”
Peddy said he’s been coming to the Manna meals for about a month and half. What made the meal even more special, according to Peddy, was seeing familiar faces of volunteers.
The nonprofit, MANNA Soup Kitchen Inc., has been providing meals since 1986. The organization took over the Christmas Day meal from the Honor Court.
For Anthony Santaniello, 24, of Springfield, and his girlfriend Alicia Serrano, 19, of Westminster, the Christmas meal provided a brief respite.
Without it, Santaniello said Sunday would be like a normal day of being homeless “sight seeing and watching the building.”
“It’s a nice break,” Santaniello said.
Looking for company on Christmas, which also happens to be her birthday, Hazel Tenner came to celebrate at Edward’s Church.
“They said if you’re alone, come here to eat and I’m alone,” Tenner said.
Even before Tenner’s husband Edgar died in 2011, the couple attended the holiday meal. Tenner said she also volunteers on Saturdays with Manna.
“I can’t get over how good they are here,” she said. “It’s absolutely delicious.”
In addition to the meal at noon, guests were also able to take food with them. Tenner, who said she doesn’t cook anymore, left with some containers she brought from home filled for another meal.
“Manna is a terrific place, they do a wonderful job,” Tenner said. “The food they put out is unbelievable.”
MANNA Soup Kitchen serves three meals a week in Northampton as well as the Thanksgiving and Christmas day meals. More information about the organization is available at www.mannasoupkitchennorthampton.org/.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.