Families receive Christmas dinners
By Angie Landsverk
More than 200 meals were delivered to those in need, alone and homebound this Christmas season.
“Everything went smoothly,” John Laedtke said on Sunday, Dec. 20, as volunteers left St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church with bags of packaged, home-cooked dinners.
The parish was scheduled to host this year’s Christmas community meal in its Fellowship Hall.
Area churches take turns doing so each year.
St. Mary Magdalene signed up to be this year’s host prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m really grateful to the Chain O’ Lakes Ministerial Association (COLMA), because they’re the ones that gave us the general procedure and put me in contact with some of the other churches,” said Laedtke, who is the parish’s pastoral minister.
He also acknowledged Tammy Wright, Trinity Lutheran Church’s volunteer coordinator, for her assistance planning this year’s meal.
“She was calling previous donors at Trinity and in the ecumenical community in Waupaca,” Laedtke said.
COLMA exceeded its goal for donations, he said.
Any leftover funds are going back into continued community meal efforts, Laedtke said.
Safe, bountiful meal
He said the goal was to provide a safe and bountiful meal for people.
The Christmas community meal is typically catered.
This year, it was prepared at St. Mary Magdalene.
Laedtke said the parish’s Fellowship Committee has been using the kitchen to make soup for others the past few months.
The committee is very proficient, he said.
Jeff and Ellen Hager head the committee and have experience in the restaurant industry.
“They’re always safe, but more importantly, they don’t limit themselves,” Laedtke said. “They’ve taken on the idea of agape through culinary means.”
After the decision was made to cook the meal at the church, the committee came up with the menu, he said.
“They had everything in place,” Laedtke said. “I just needed to get them materials and have people sign up.”
Some people donated ingredients, such as frozen hashbrowns, shredded cheddar cheese, carrots and chunked pineapple.
Other donated funds to purchase hams.
Members of the parish’s Social Justice Committee, as well as people from throughout the community, made pies.
Laedtke said people found ways to help out within their comfort zones.
The preparation also included the Hagers going to First United Methodist Church last month when the Bread Basket handed out Thanksgiving dinners.
They wanted to see how the meals were packaged and distributed.
Menu for Christmas meal
The menu for St. Mary Magdalene’s Christmas Take-Home meal was ham, cheesy potatoes, a side vegetable and a slice of pie.
The Hagers spent several hours in the church’s kitchen on Thursday, Dec. 17, making about a dozen hams.
The next morning, about 10 volunteers helped with the rest of the cooking.
The food was portioned out and packaged in containers on Saturday, Dec. 19.
A total of 220 meals were distributed for this year’s meal.
Laedtke said the county’s Meals on Wheels program forwarded information as to who may be in need of a Christmas meal.
Dozens of meals were also delivered to Garden Park House and Foundations for Living, both in Waupaca.
Foundations for Living operates a seasonal warming center in Waupaca.
Executive Director Wilma Akright was at St. Mary Magdalene on Sunday to pick up 20 meals for the center.
She said the center has been averaging about nine people per night since opening on Nov. 1.
“It’s just so wonderful,” Akright said of the Christmas meal for those in need. “It’s a beautiful, home-cooked meal.”
Laedtke said the majority of the meals were delivered.
Volunteers delivered them to the edges of Waupaca County.
Brian and Melanie Eskildsen and their children were among the volunteers.
They are members of Iola Methodist Church, and this was the third year they delivered Christmas meals.
She said they wanted to do it to teach their children to be involved in the community and to serve others.
They had a total of 16 meals in their vehicle.
The family visited six residences in all.
Laedtke noted he gave them meals for people who are widowed, so those people could see children.
Christmas compassion
He compared this time to another from the past.
“Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ because he was living in a time when the disparities of people living side by side were becoming clearer, and people waivering on the poverty line don’t often look like they are in dire straights,” Laedtke said.
He said, “This community meal is our testament not to ignore the needs of our neighbors, but to recognize them and to step up to meet those needs. We’re always reminded at Christmas time to be compassionate, but if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that compassion should never be rationed.”