Holiday spirit of giving wasn't dampened by covid-19 surge

The steady stream of volunteers arriving at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Latrobe had to find their way to an unassuming concrete ramp to get into the building on Thanksgiving morning.

Despite serving more than 160 takeout meals on the 40th anniversary of the church’s annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner, the spirit of community has had to take a back seat to health and safety measures, as coronavirus cases surge across Western Pennsylvania and the rest of the U.S.

“We’ve been doing monthly meals here since the pandemic started,” said Mary Ann Coulston of Unity, who has taken the lead in organizing the meal for the past 12 years. “So, we thought we could still do the Thanksgiving dinner as takeout, social distance and be safe.”

Jane Lawson of Latrobe has been volunteering at Trinity’s dinner for the past eight years, and missed the socializing that has been such a big part of the event in the past.

“I always took tickets when people came in, and after that, I liked to walk around and talk with people, see how their meal is,” Lawson said. “I like to be with the people and hear their stories.”

In Greensburg, Dan Czerpak and his family are thankful just to be in business.

After two years of operating Pit Take BBQ as a food truck, the Plum resident and Luxor native opened a brick-and-mortar location on North Main Street just as the first wave of pandemic-related restaurant restrictions took hold.

A small staff and a small space that already did a good bit of takeout business has allowed Czerpak to partner with Greensburg nonprofit Greater Things to deliver 20 full Thanksgiving meals to local families.

“My main goal when I got this place was to make it the best I could,” Czerpak said. “So if we’re at a point where we have a great customer base, we got the word out and donations started coming in so we could supply these meals, and I felt it was something we needed to do.”

With a staff that only recently expanded from Czerpak and his wife, Heather, to include a third member, overhead has been low and he said it presented an opportunity to give back.

“The community’s been great to us, and that’s why we wanted to keep it local,” he said. “We worked with Greater Things because they’re right here in Greensburg, and they helped with identifying families who could benefit the most from it.”

Coulston said she’s glad Trinity was able to provide meals for many of the people who will not be seeing extended family over the holiday.

“We got a lot of calls from people who ordered just single meals, because they’re going to be home by themselves,” she said.

Czerpak said he’s proud to be able to give back “during a time when everyone can use a little help and ray of positivity.”