Beacon delivers Christmas Eve dinners
For the fourth consecutive year, the Beacon of HOPE delivered Christmas dinners to Pine Island/Matlacha residents on Christmas Eve.
“A lot of what the Beacon does is not organic,” Beacon of HOPE director Betsy Haesemeyer said. “In other words, people come to us with ideas. This Christmas dinner idea is Beacon volunteer Dick Maher’s brain child. Dick has encouraged the community to do something that wouldn’t have been done without him and this year we delivered 150 complete Christmas dinners to Pine Islander’s in need.”
“I believe this season is the fourth year we have delivered Christmas dinners,” volunteer and GED “math wizard” Dick Maher said. “I’ve been blessed in my life and I just wanted to pay it forward to the Pine Island community. We have lots of volunteers that make this possible. Volunteers that made the food including my wife Diane who made 70 servings of green beans.”
“We had lots of other help,” Haesemeyer said. “The Methodist Church loaned us tables and chairs and the fire department went and got them for us and set everything up like an assembly line. Everything was so organized that within a few hours all the food was prepared, portioned out, and we had four delivery teams to deliver them.”
“I had six people from my street that helped us last year and kept asking me when we were going to get started this year,” Maher said. “They were really looking forward to it. They said it’s very rewarding especially at Christmas time.
“There was 80 pounds of ham,” Maher continued. “Winn-Dixie donated half and my wife and I donated the other half. The dinners included sweet potato casserole, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and 150 slices of pie plus rolls. Some people made the food, some donated money, and it all worked out great.”
“We also have people that come to us for help at the Beacon throughout the year,” Haesemeyer said. “About a week ago, just before Christmas, a couple came through the door. They’re renting a place on the island and unfortunately their landlord didn’t pay the water bill. In all there were four adults and a young child without water. Well, we managed to get the water turned on, the child signed up for the GED program and with the help of Holloway Foundation we were able to provide Christmas gifts to the child. Then on top of everything else, the family also received Christmas dinners.
“That’s the story of Christmas. That’s the story of the Beacon of HOPE.”