Yesterday the youth minister at my parish, Saint Francis in Dracut, MA, asked me if I could get a few people to help serve at Cor Unum, a meal center in Lawrence, MA, the poorest city in Massachusetts. Our youth group goes there every week and she was having a hard time filling the slots this month. I put the word out and 5 folks joined me:
Kylee Haas '14
Skylar Pepin '13
Bryan Therrien '15
The aunt and grandmother of Kyle Sullivan '15
Kylee and Skylar served meals and drinks, Bryan did dishes, and Kyle's aunt, grandmother, and I worked desserts (was I being typecast??).
Cor Unum was founded in 2006 by Father Paul O'Brien, the pastor of Saint Patrick's Parish which is right next door. Father O'Brien was the college roommate of Conan O'Brien who helped with the fundraising and was in Lawrence for the 2006 opening. They have served over 1,000,000 people since opening and they serve breakfast and dinner 7 days a week. Their philosophy is very similar to Saint Francis Inn - the folks who come are seated and served and are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. The facility is spotless and very pretty with lots of windows and high ceilings. A giant cross adorns one of the walls.
It was quite ironic that we were asked to go there this week as I had contacted Cor Unum earlier this week about Trinity getting to serve there once a month. Stay tuned for more on that.
Father O'Brien will actually be saying Mass at Trinity in November for our annual Thanksgiving liturgy. I invited him a few months ago and thought him coming on the day we have our annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive would be quite fitting. We are in for a treat! You can read more about him here.
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