| Monthly
luncheon at Brentwood's St Anne's Church |
 |
Translated by Stephen Tang
August 01, 2002
Chinese
Version
Brentwood, NY, USA
- Tzu Chi serves monthly luncheon at St. Anne's RC Church.
Since 1999, fifteen volunteers from the Tzu
Chi Long Island Branch Office have been providing a Chinese
luncheon for low-income families at Brentwood's St. Anne's Church
on every fourth Saturday of the month.
Popular vegetarian lunches in Latino-American
neighborhood
After exiting the Long Island Highway and
driving through some nice, quiet residential areas, one notices
narrower streets and older buildings. This is Brentwood, a low-income
Latino-American neighborhood.
When the volunteers arrived at the church,
the dining room was already crowded. When they asked the pastor
whether the people liked vegetarian lunches, he said, "The
crowd says it all." He also pointed out that the friendliness
of the volunteers warmed everyone's heart.
In the last three years, the volunteers have
developed excellent teamwork, and they have also come to know
the staff and volunteers at the church very well. A restaurant
owner, Li-chen Chen, always provides the mainstay of the luncheon,
three big containers of delicious fried rice. She said, "It's
hard to cook so much fried rice in a regular kitchen. That's
why making this in our restaurant can make things easier for
the volunteers."
Services provided to low-income families
St. Anne's Church is already over 100 years
old. Its services include:
- food and meals for low-income families
- medical assistance
- help with immigration applications
- translation
- help with paperwork for various agencies
- collaboration with other social programs
and referrals
This meal service that Tzu Chi participates
in is sponsored by a charity group named "Peanut Butter
Gang/Hospitality Too Inc." The program is 11 years old,
and there are four other participating organizations.
The church always prepares sandwiches and
lunch boxes for low-income families to take home. For those
whose birthday falls on that day, birthday cakes are also served
with everyone singing "Happy Birthday."
Tzu Chi will provide dental checkups and health
services at the church in August 2002. Three years of continuous
service with warmth and care have given local residents a strong
impression of the Tzu Chi spirit.
