Helping hands
150 volunteers, including players from visiting Purdue football team, lend a hand at St. Anthony’s on Christmas
Purdue football player Tario Fuller Jr. delivers a Christmas lunch at St. Anthony’s dining room in San Francisco on Monday. The Boilermakers play the Arizona Wildcats in the Foster Farms Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Wednesday.
The Purdue football team that faces Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl at Santa Clara on Wednesday has no one with any postseason experience — it’s the Boilermakers’ first bowl in five years. But the squad that joined the volunteers at St. Anthony Dining Room in San Francisco on Christmas Day had ample experience in serving the needy.
“We’ve been given so much, student athletes with a place to stay ... and the players are excited in serving the community,” said former starting quarterback David Blough, whose season was ended by a broken ankle against the University of Illinois last month.
Blough, who just graduated with a degree in organizational leadership, has taken part in five missions to Africa with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and said his teammates have done similar work.
Blough’s replacement, sophomore Elijah Sindelar, who led Purdue to bowl-clinching wins in its last two games, spends some of his off-time visiting grade schools near the West Lafayette, Ind., campus, reading to children and playing dodgeball.
“It keeps us humble, reminds us what our purpose is,” Sindelar said as he joined dozens of food-servers at the kitchen on Golden Gate Avenue.
Added wide receiver Gregory Phillips: “It helps us be grateful for the little things we have, (seeing) how somebody can have so little and still be happy.”
Their Arizona counterparts were also serving the poor and hungry a few blocks away at Glide Memorial Church.
The churches’ kitchens operate daily, but attendance typically peaks on Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Andrew Singer, a spokesman for St. Anthony’s. He said about 15,000 volunteers turn out over the course of the year, and 150 were on hand Monday to serve about 1,500 meals that included chicken provided by Foster Farms, sponsor of the bowl game.
The event had a Christian flavor, including a prayer led by a chaplain, which didn’t faze longtime volunteers JoAnn Lieberman of Lafayette and her husband, Charlie Wolff.
“We’re Jewish and we’re celebrating Hanukkah,” said Lieberman, a retired children’s art teacher who has been coming to St. Anthony’s every Christmas for 18 years with her husband, a San Francisco attorney, and their three children, the youngest of whom started at age 8. “I wanted my kids to learn to do for others.”
Dan James is a San Francisco physical therapist who first volunteered at St. Anthony’s on Thanksgiving.
“It brings a lot of joy in my life,” he said. “There’s a lot of love in here.”
One who appreciated it was Jimmie Barfield, 58. He described himself as a Vietnam veteran who still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, now uses a wheelchair and is preparing for knee-replacement surgery.
“They’re the best free charity food place in the city,” he said. “The staff is cordial, compassionate. They make me feel welcome.”
Purdue offensive lineman Grant Hermanns said San Francisco has made him feel welcome.
“The people are awesome. The whole city’s cool,” said the 19-yearold redshirt freshman, who will miss Wednesday’s game with a torn ACL. Recalling the community service work he did as an Eagle Scout, Hermanns said, “I love giving back.”
“It brings a lot of joy in my life. There’s a lot of love in here.” Dan James, volunteer at St. Anthony’s in S.F.