SCRANTON, Pa. -- An organization in our area delivered meals this Thanksgiving to folks spending this holiday in hospice care. It was a meaningful day, not just to the patients, but also for the volunteers.
On this day of giving thanks, many will gather with family and friends for a meal but these coworkers gathered at Mansour's Market in Scranton to help give a meal to patients who may not have much time left with their loved ones.
"The families are so appreciative because it gives them more time to spend with their loved one. They don't have to be cooking in a kitchen, so we make it a little bit easier for them," said Mary Gibbons, Hospice of the Sacred Heart.
Each bag is filled with all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
The staff of Hospice of the Sacred Heart says this tradition is something they all look forward to.
"For me, it's so heartwarming because it's their day off, so they come with their families, their children. They pack the bags and then they deliver them to a home just to make their day a little more special," said CEO Diane Baldi.
Others say the Thanksgiving meal delivery is just an extension of the work Sacred Heart does for hospice patients each day.
"People are grateful when you touch them with caring, and you give and ask nothing in return. People can feel the presence of God and it moves them," said Dr. Frank Bucci, founder of Hospice of the Sacred Heart.
Each of the bags will feed up to four members of a hospice patient's family, and it also includes a special message -- a homemade card made by local students.
"Some of our local schools, Wyoming Valley West as well as Prescott Elementary, made special Thanksgiving cards for all the bags, so all the families would have a little bit of sunshine in their mornings, too, as they open their bags," Baldi said.
Once all 180 bags were packed, volunteers set off to deliver the meals to patients across northeastern Pennsylvania, all in an effort to bring comfort and joy to those patients in their hour of need.