SCRANTON, Pa. — It's become a holiday tradition for many volunteers to fill their cars at Mansour's Market in Scranton on Thanksgiving morning, delivering meals to those in hospice care.
Ray Gillette, a long-time volunteer, shared, "We've been doing this for a long time and we've taken the boys with us. Our oldest grandson is 14. This is his 14th year that he's come to deliver with us."
Distributing thousands of meals to those in Hospice Care is a tradition that dates back nearly 20 years for these volunteers and their families.
"We thought let's give them a Thanksgiving meal. You know, take that stress of having to prepare the meal and then we'll give them all they need and they could spend more time, you know, more quality time. They're not rushing around the kitchen and preparing and add all that extra stress," Said Diane Baldi, CEO of Hospice of The Sacred Heart.
Baldi says the event began as an idea.
Quickly growing to not just caring for their patients, but their families too.
"19 years ago, in our very first, we may have had 20 patients. Today we have 200. So it has grown exponentially," said Baldi.
From just a few meals to hundreds, volunteers gather at Mansour's Market each year, taking time away from their families to give back to others.
Michele Penetar, a volunteer, said, "Just providing this small gesture of care and concern just makes us feel like we're doing something that is helpful and beneficial to them."
Along with classic holiday staples like turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce, each meal includes a hand-made card.
"I like it because it has like a turkey on the front and it has like all the stuff that you would eat," Said nine-year-old Olivia Catalano.
She and her classmates made dozens of these cards, each featuring a Thanksgiving message or drawing.
"I like it because it has like a turkey on the front and it has like all the stuff that you would eat." She added, "I made it like colorful and like making it really Thanksgiving... I said 'Happy Thanksgiving' on the front and then, like, inside, I made like a hand turkey," said Catalano.
With each card placed and each meal delivered, workers successfully brought more than 600 meals to hospice families across Northeastern Pennsylvania.
