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Community Corner

A Scarsdale Christmas Carol: The Lasagna That Turned Into Thermal Underwear

The Scarsdale Friends recently sponsored a dinner to raise money for the homeless.

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As in previous years, it started with a need -- warm socks and underwear for men and women who depend upon others for their basic necessities.  How Greek salad, lasagna and turkey turned into 116 gift bags filled with warm necessities and lovely toiletries for residents of several homeless shelter programs is a tale reminiscent of stories many of us have heard since childhood, and makes one believe in the magic that is part of the holiday season.

Every year at the Friends Meetinghouse in Scarsdale, Quakers from many parts of Westchester sponsor a dinner to raise money to purchase items needed throughout the cold weather by homeless men and women. 

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Denise Reshard, a long-time employee of Open Arms men’s shelter in White Plains prepares two huge lasagnas (one meat and one vegetarian); the Central Park diner in Yonkers donates an enormous Greek Salad; and members of Scarsdale Friends Meeting come together and roast and bake and cook their favorite dishes. In early November the dinner is held and people come from communities throughout lower Westchester to enjoy the delicious food and camaraderie, and also to donate whatever they can afford towards the holiday project.  

At this year’s dinner the director of Open Arms men’s shelter, Charlie Bevier, spoke about how their program is structured so that eventually some residents can go back into the mainstream of the community. One of those men who was successful also spoke. The evening ended with everyone singing holiday music and feeling happily stuffed! 

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The next day the shopping began and, with some donations from local merchants, enough was gathered for 116 bags, including scarves, hats, gloves, fuzzy pajama pants for the women of Samaritan House and Beanie Babies(R) for all women donated by the Youth Group of a local church. Toiletries were donated by many people throughout the County, including Bronxville dentist Dr. Kory Brietel, as well as collected by a residents in a Florida community for developmentally disabled adults during a group trip.

There was so much to put together. How to do it? Fortunately, 16 neighbors in the Armour Villa area of east Yonkers worked for four hours to put the bags together and most were distributed at the Open Arms party in White Plains,  just before Christmas. Other bags were given to the men at Fessenden House on Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers.

The bags for the women were donated by Mrs. Green’s Market and Steve Madden shoes. The men’s bags were color-coded by size and were donated by Lord and Taylor and Neiman Marcus.  

The packages were festive and beautiful -- the presentation is part of the love and caring, a way of showing that we are all connected.  The gifts brought “tidings of comfort and joy,” and the season was truly meaningful for the many Westchester residents who joined together to make it so.   

For more information about this project -- which begins again in the late summer -- please contact Susan Weisfeld: sweisfeld@juno.com or call 914-779-8354.

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