By David Karas | Correspondent

On Thanksgiving Day, Epiphany Parish, Brick, was transformed into a restaurant and catering facility.

Organizers were positioned in the lobby to answer questions and greet volunteers, donors and guests. Cooks were spilling out of the small kitchen and huddled around makeshift cooking stations on the back patio. The church hall was filled with tables that doubled as staging areas for meals to be delivered, as well as a place for several hundred individuals to sit down to enjoy a holiday meal together.

And there were volunteers everywhere.

The annual routine is anything
but rare at the parish, where a similar operation has taken place on Thanksgiving morning – despite snow, sleet and rain – for more than 15 years. This year, a collective 1,000 individuals received a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the hard work of parishioners and volunteers.

Whether homebound, homeless or simply down on their luck, the men, women and children were able to celebrate the holiday so many take for granted.

“The Church of Epiphany is the best example of faith working through love,” said Jim Sigurdson, director of Community Services, Inc. of Ocean County. Sigurdson was on hand at Epiphany Parish to help coordinate the distribution process.

More than 750 meals were hand-delivered to patrons across Ocean County, from a senior community in Lakewood to a nearby tent city. Later in the afternoon, some 250 joined volunteers for a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner. Vans and cars went out to pick up some patrons for lunch, while some got to ride in style in limousines offered for use by local funeral homes for the day.

This year’s program reflected a 200-meal increase from last year, a trend Sigurdson expects to see next year as well, in response to heightened need in the region.

One might think that such a large-scale operation would come out of a commercial kitchen, but, in reality, dedicated volunteers made the best of the little space they had in a very small kitchen and a common room in the church to crank out the homemade goods.

“They don’t let the physical limitations stop them from feeding 1,000 people,” said Sigurdson. “Everything is so well coordinated.”

For Bobbie Banks-Grove, the annual project has become a staple of her Thanksgiving celebration.

“I couldn’t miss it,” she said, adding that it reminds her how fortunate she has been. “We have a lot to be thankful for.”

Her husband, Charlie, was also in attendance. Despite having a heart condition, he was helping to organize bagged meals ready to go out for delivery. The project meant so much to him, she said, that he came out in spite of his own condition.

“Every year it brings tears to my eyes,” Banks-Grove said when discussing the more than 100 volunteers, ranging from pre-school-aged to seniors, who turned out to do everything from directing traffic in the parking lot to cooking mashed potatoes in the kitchen.

Colleen Ocello, a parishioner at nearby St. Martha Parish, Point Pleasant, was volunteering there for the first time.

“I always wanted to do it,” she said.

Almost overwhelmed by the large turnout, she paused a moment to take in the scene – an amazing number of volunteers scurrying about, packaging everything from rolls to desserts, turkey legs to sweet potatoes.

“I think it is great,” she said. “There are so many people helping.”

But the project was not always of such a magnitude. It began as a very local outreach effort, until organizers realized that the need – as well as the will to help – was so much greater.

“We’re starting to get more and more people involved,” said Sue Hermida, who has been at the helm of the project for some 15 years. “We don’t do it for glory. We just do it.”

Parishioner Joe Costa, also an assistant CCD teacher, had his students on scene to help with the project. During class the weeks before, he said, the students diligently decorated some 750 bags for the holiday meals to add a more personal touch for recipients.

“We have a large older population that just cannot get out for Thanksgiving,” he said, noting the importance of the overall effort.

Nancy Nikiperowicz was volunteering for the first time at Epiphany Parish along with her daughter, Heather, 14. They had participated in a similar project at their home parish, and a friend from Epiphany Parish invited them to join in.

“It’s wonderful to be able to give back,” said Nikiperowicz. The pair enjoyed both the quality time together on the holiday as well as the feeling of being able to help others.

Epiphany pastor, Father Bernardino Esguerra, Jr., said that the initiative is vital for his parish because of the many blessings bestowed on its parishioners. He said that the gesture can also have a profound effect on recipients.

“It helps them,” he said. “Somebody is still caring for them.”