Holiday spirit prevails at New Covenant Center
Amid pandemic, organization serves more than 100 guests
STAMFORD — For the past 30 years, members of Temple Sinai in Stamford have sponsored and served a Christmas Day dinner at the New Covenant Center on the city’s West Side. Even a pandemic could not disrupt that tradition.
Temple Sinai volunteers adapted the ritual to the coronavirus crisis by donating and preparing takeout meals on Friday for more than 100 guests who stopped by New
Covenant’s soup kitchen, at 174 Richmond Hill Ave. On a rainy day at the end of a brutal year, recipients said that the event helped them to feel festive and optimistic about the coming year.
“I still feel the Christmas spirit,” said Stamford resident David L. Bond, 67, who has been attending the New Covenant Christmas dinner on and off for more than 20 years. “I’m very grateful for the generosity of the volunteers and staff here at New Covenant.”
In previous years, guests gathered for sit-down meals at New Covenant. To comply with social distancing regulations, this time they received Styrofoam boxes. The victuals included turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, ham, rice, string beans, gravy, cranberry sauce, cookies and soda. They also received gift bags with hats, socks, scarves, reusable masks and hand sanitizer.
“Right now, I’m unemployed. I lost my job in March, and I’ve just been doing spot work with friends,” said Stamford resident Bobby Jackson, 62, who works in construction. “Thank God there are places like this to help us sustain and survive.”
New Covenant maintenance professional Brandon Johnson handed out the meals and gift bags from a doorway on Richmond Hill Avenue.
“It feels good to be able to give back to the community, being a former homeless person myself,” Johnson said. “I’ve gone through the same experience as many of these people here. I never forget where I came from.”
In the kitchen, New Covenant cook René Alexander oversaw the final stages of the meal preparation. Operating under the umbrella of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, New Covenant represents one of Connecticut’s largest soup kitchens. In the past few years, the annual output of its soup kitchen and food pantry has tripled to 700,000 meals, serving about 3,300 adults and children.
“With the pandemic, it’s good to have people who want to donate time, food and money to help those in need,” Alexander said. “If it wasn’t for these volunteers, a lot of people wouldn’t eat.”
The dinner reflected the contributions of about 75 families who belong to Temple Sinai, a progressive and Reform Jewish congregation based at 458 Lakeside Drive.
“They’re doing God’s work here,” said Michelle Ebstein, who volunteered with her husband, Peter
Ebstein. “We’re very glad to help.”
On-site Temple Sinai volunteers also included Sandy Mehl and two other married couples, Marian Freed and Bob Martino and Joan and Stu Madison.
The volunteers credited fellow Temple Sinai congregant Sally Kelman, who founded the event. They said she did not attend, as a social distancing precaution because she is in her 80s, but that they wanted
to live up to her example.
In addition to the Christmas volunteering, many Temple Sinai members make year-round donations to New Covenant.
“There’s so much food insecurity and so many people who are going hungry — whether there’s a pandemic or not,” Freed said. “We just feel it’s important to serve the community and make sure people are not going hungry.”
Ahead of the new year, guests expressed hope that their prospects would improve in 2021.
“It’s been a bad year with the virus, but things are going to get better,” Jackson said. “I’ve been working hard to get myself back together. I think I’ll get something going in March when the weather gets better.”
Bond said he is thinking of returning to school and studying subjects such as
African heritage.
“Maybe I can teach in the field,” Bond said. “Teaching is a field where they don’t just cut you off at 65.”
Giving throughout the area
A number of other local groups mobilized Friday to help community members in need.
Volunteers from Congregation Agudath Sholom, a modern Orthodox synagogue based at 301 Straw
berry Hill Ave., in Stamford, delivered meals that they had prepared for about 70 people being housed by the nonprofit Pacific House at a Stamford hotel.
Congregation Agudath Sholom members have traditionally prepared and served a Christmas Day dinner at Pacific House’s shelter on Pacific Street for men experiencing homelessness, but coronavirus restrictions led to the new format.
“One of our goals is to reach out to the broader community and bring some joy to folks for the holidays,” said Congregation Agudath Sholom Senior Rabbi Daniel Cohen. “To the credit of the members of the synagogue, they’re meeting the challenges.”
Many other local houses of worship do community service throughout the year, but some were taking a break from in-person programming.
“During this unusual Christmas season, we will not hold any in-person activities,” said the Rev. Patrick Collins, senior pastor of The First Congregational Church of Greenwich. “We feel one of the best ways we can be a caring community during this time is by staying home. We look forward to the time we can safely gather and care for one another in the ways we know and love.”