Stepping up to the plate
Temple members serve on Christmas
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Bundled up in winter jackets and knit caps, taking tentative steps, people arrived Tuesday for Christmas dinner at the Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church, home of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council’s soup kitchen.
Instead of soup and sandwiches, roast turkey and stuffing awaited them, along with gingerbread houses, a tree decked in gold and a pile of gifts.
Smiling, the volunteers drew their guests into the room.
Temple Sinai’s congregation took over the soup kitchen on Christmas Day, feeding the hungry so other
‘Someone wise once said, ‘If you want to save the world, the first thing you have to do is feed people.’ That’s what the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council does here.’ Roy Rotheim Skidmore College professor, volunteer
workers could spend the holiday with their families. The Jewish volunteers cooked and served a turkey dinner to anyone who walked in at 24 Circular St.
“Someone wise once said, ‘ If you want to save the world, the first thing you have to do is feed people,’ ” said Roy Rotheim, an economics professor at Skidmore College who has cooked the Christmas Day dinner for 25 years. “That’s what the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council does here. We feed people. No questions asked.”
The dinner guests flocked to a table covered in gifts and candy. Volunteers restocked the candy, carved the turkeys and served stuffing.
So many people volunteer that the event runs like a well- oiled machine, said Temple Sinai trustee Matt Cohen, who coordinated the event for his second year. He expected
about 50 people to come for dinner, people Rotheim called “our guests.”
Businesses and individuals donate the food and more.
“People are so generous,” Cohen said. “I think we’ll have lots of leftovers. But that’s all right; nothing goes to waste. We just pack up the extras and put them into the kitchen. Everything will be eaten in the next few days.”
Among those generous people was Marylou Whitney, who gave 150 wrapped Christmas gifts for the guests. Dehn’s Florist donated poinsettias for the tables, while The Bread Basket Bakery provided cakes and cookies for dessert. The little dessert plates caught the eye of guest Donna Jacobie of Moreau, who picked up two first thing.
“I’m a diabetic,” she said. “But I’m gonna cheat today. Two desserts— sound like a plan?”
Jacobie said she’s had hard luck. She’s a bone cancer survivor who’s had six vertebrae fused and her shoulder reconstruct- ed. “And my family forgets a 73- year- old,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
Despite the assertion, Jacobie hadn’t come alone. Her “baby sister,” Frieda McCluskey of Saratoga Springs, 63, had come with her and sat quietly eating sweet potatoes. She likes cake, too, but she saved dessert for last.
Jacobie reminisced about family gift- giving. She had once bought McCluskey an ugly doll whose head turned around to reveal different facial expressions. Jacobie said her sister never forgave her for that present.
“The best was when I got Frieda a Victorola with my first pay,” said the older sister, smiling.
McCluskey had picked up a wrapped children’s book for her grandchild. She had also gotten one each of Whitney’s gifts: a picture frame, shower gel and body powder.
Rotheim listened to the sisters and smiled.
“The people who come here to eat are like guests in our home,” Rotheim said. “It sounds soppy, but it’s true.”