13 Latrobe area churches band together to serve free Christmas meals to all who need them

Anna Louise Castellano spent Christmas Day with her extended family.

It’s a family that included many folks she didn’t even know but who gathered together Wednesday afternoon for a Christmas meal at St. John the Evangelist Church in Latrobe, in what has become a local tradition.

“This is for anybody who doesn’t have anybody to spend Christmas with. This brings people together,” said Castellano, who along with her husband, James, and more than 160 people who were served a holiday meal.

Latrobe area churches have joined forces to serve a Christmas dinner for the community for the last 14 years.

No one who attended was asked to pay. The food — ham, potatoes, applesauce, coleslaw and all varieties of pie — was donated as volunteers cooked, served and cleaned up after the meal.

And it’s all part of the Christmas spirit, said Nancy McKinnon, a co-organizer of the community dinner.

“The idea is that it is a place for people to be on Christmas for fellowship, for a nice meal and to celebrate Christ’s birth,” McKinnon said.

Dozens of volunteers from 13 local churches in Latrobe, Derry and Unity put on the meal. Each church was responsible to provide a dish.

Michele Hamerski, a co-organizer, said preparations for Wednesday’s community dinner took days but was definitely worth the work.

“These people deserve a Christmas,” Hamerski said. “Everyone deserves a Christmas.”

Mary Coulston from Trinity Lutheran Church in Latrobe brought trays of scalloped potatoes. Coulston and her husband grew and harvested the 500 pounds of spuds needed for her dish.

Trinity Lutheran Church hosted the first community dinner, which rotated among several houses of worship in its initial years but more recently has been held in the large community room at St. John the Evangelist.

“A lot of people are by themselves on Christmas and this gives them a place to go and be around people,” Coulston said. “It’s too depressing to be by yourself.”

Tricia Mucci, of Pleasant Unity, worked as a server.

“It’s a way to give back,” Mucci said, “and what better way than to celebrate a holiday with all these people.”

Kathy Putum of Latrobe has volunteered to serve guests at the community dinner for the last seven years. It’s now part of her holiday tradition.

“I don’t consider it giving up Christmas, I consider it being with other people,” Putun said.

And for guests such as Vernamarie Harding of Latrobe, it’s a chance to sit and have a holiday meal before she has to go off to work as a nurse later in the day at Excela Latrobe Hospital.

“It’s so nice I can come here and spend Christmas with my extended family,” Harding said.

For volunteer Kristina Davies, the collective effort from the Latrobe community to ensure everyone is able to spend Christmas with friends is what the holiday is all about.

“This is Fred Rogers’ legacy,” Davies said. “We help our neighbors.”