November 28, 2024

Knights of Columbus of Chicopee serve 2000 on Thanksgiving

REGIONAL
By Carolee McGrath

Volunteers serve Thanksgiving dinner to those in need at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee. The Fairview Council 4044 hosts the Thanksgiving dinner each year. (IObserve photo/Courtesy of Bill Pacocha)

CHICOPEE – The Fairview Knights of Columbus Council 4044 hosted their annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Castle of Knights on Memorial Drive in Chicopee, Thursday, Nov. 28. The longstanding tradition provides a free Thanksgiving meal to those in need in Chicopee, Holyoke, and South Hadley. Members from surrounding Knights of Columbus councils also help each year.

“We had 1700 meals delivered. We served 300 in house,” said Ron Grenier, the Grand Knight of Council 4044.  The Knights delivered 200 meals to Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen in Chicopee and 200 to Kate’s Kitchen in Holyoke. Volunteers also delivered meals to the Boys and Girls Club in Chicopee and to hundreds of homebound, working with Western Mass Eldercare.

“It’s a blessing that we can do this. The volunteers have been a blessing. Without the volunteers, this wouldn’t happen,” Grenier said.

For the dine-in meal, individuals and families were welcomed at the door by a host and seated at a table. The meal preparation began on Sunday.

“We took the turkeys out of the freezers on Sunday. We cooked the turkeys on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday we started plating meals,” said Grenier, a parishioner of St. Patrick Parish in South Hadley. He and his wife, who also volunteered, have three adult children and two grandchildren.

“It’s something that we do,” Grenier said of the Knights of Columbus. “We like to help the public. There are a lot of needy people who came in for the meal.”

More than 150 volunteers assisted during the week with meal preparation, delivery, serving and clean-up.

“We try to be more like Jesus and Jesus gave,” said Steve Dubreuil, a member of Fairview Council 4044. “Jesus gave to the poor, to people who were without food,” he said.

In addition to running the Thanksgiving dinner, the local Knights of Columbus recently wrapped up their Coats for Kids drive.

“We had a mother and son who came in here (to the dinner) without a coat and we gave them coats,” Dubreuil said.

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic men’s fraternal organization founded by Blessed Michael McGivney in New Haven, Conn., in 1882. Father McGivney, born to Irish immigrants, worked to provide financial assistance to immigrant Catholic communities in Connecticut.

To learn more about the Fairview Knights of Columbus Council 4044, go to kofc4044.com