Grateful to serve: Churches, volunteers feed community
Rob Laycock ladles out gravy on the serving line during the annual Thanksgiving Day dinner put on the by Libby Ministerial Association, which was hosted at VFW Post 1548 this year. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Yvonne Resch, John Orr (obscured) and Sonia Miller load up meals for community members who could not make it to the VFW hall on Thanksgiving. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Kandis Peterson stops to warm up a diner’s coffee during the annual Thanksgiving Day dinner put on the by Libby Ministerial Association, which was hosted at VFW Post 1548 this year. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Sonia Miller serves diners during the annual Thanksgiving Day dinner put on the by Libby Ministerial Association, which was hosted at VFW Post 1548 this year. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby Ministerial Association held their annual Thanksgiving community dinner at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1548 this year, serving around 250 and sending out around 100 meals.
Pastor Karen Disney of the Libby United Methodist Church said numbers were in keeping with previous years, though she was unable to help last year due to illness.
The dinner had no shortage of volunteers either, she said.
“We have so many volunteers, thank goodness,” she said. Many of them just showed up the day of the dinner. From college students to church members, there were plenty of hands on deck, clearing tables, serving food or just taking a moment to talk with those there to eat.
Disney gave a lot of credit the Rhea Bernardy, the person who makes it all come together even as she deals with the needs in her own life.
“She’s the hard worker,” Disney said.
Among the volunteers, some said they came as a member of their church. Others felt called in a different way.
Yvonne Resch said she saw the advertisement for the dinner, and decided to come help.
“It’s my first year without my parents, and I needed to do something to do,” she said.
Kandis Peterson, the activity director at the Libby Care Center, was driving by the VFW on her way home from work, and decided to stop and do more work for free instead.
“I have to drive right by the VFW, and I’m like, ‘I bet they could use a hand,’” she said. “I don’t know, this is my community, and I just want to be a part of it as much as I can.”
Peterson said that though she hadn’t signed up, she was welcomed in and set to work, and she was happy that was the case.
“It made me feel good. It’s where my heart is, is with people,” she said.
Volunteering like that is rewarding to the volunteers, Peterson said.
“If I go home, I’m just going to sit there and watch TV. If I’m here, I’m going to help people and serve them, because they’re my neighbors,” she said. “And then I’m part of the community, which makes me feel good.”