Newtown Volunteers To Treat County's Homeless To Christmas Dinner

NEWTOWN, PA — Close to 100 homeless Bucks Countians will sit down to dinner on Christmas Day thanks to a group of community volunteers from Newtown.

On Christmas Eve Day, 35 volunteers met at the American Legion on Linden Avenue to assemble meals for people living at the Bucks County Homeless Shelter in Levittown. They also put together care packages for families living in the motels along Route 13 and Route One and for a handful of people living in the woods in Lower Bucks.

The volunteers, including members of the Newtown Rotary Club and the Newtown Presbyterian Church, spent about two hours assembling the meals, which will include a choice of roast beef, chicken parmigiana, roast beef and shrimp scampi accompanied by roasted potatoes, green beans, meatballs, ziti and salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

“It feels great seeing everyone here today helping out,” said organizer Paul Salvatore. “These are people I know. And they are here putting service above self. It makes my Christmas.”

Among the volunteers were Newtown chiropractor Dr. Jerry Agasar, financial advisor Rick Rogers, president-elect of the Newtown Rotary Club Debra Porter, Marc Blattstein, newly-retired Pennsbury principal Donna McCormick Miller, Stephanie Eubanks, and others.

Packaging sandwiches for the county's needy. (Photo by Jeff Werer)

From left, Newtown Rotarians Rick Rogers, Paul Salvatore and Dr. Jerry Agasar.

“The Newtown community has a big heart.They give of their time - look at the volunteers we have here today,” said Salvatore. “And they give financially. They are willing to make a donation for others.”

Some of the volunteers will also be donating an hour or two of their time on Christmas Day to feed the homeless at the Family Service Association’s Homeless Shelter in Levittown.

“I’ve been helping with this since 2006. It’s humbling,” said Agasar. “My family and I are blessed. Not everybody is. People have unfortunate circumstances. This is one way for me to help others, give back and put service above self.”

The meals were again generously made and donated by local chef and caterer Joe Garvey, who helped oversee the packaging process on Christmas Eve Day. His donation was supplemented by donations from the Newtown Presbyterian Church and from other donations.

“I hope it gives people a smile,” said Garvey, who has been giving back every Christmas for three decades. “Things are tough out there right now with food prices. Doing this makes my Christmas to be honest. I get more satisfaction out of this than anything else in my life.”

“What people need to understand about Joe is that he did this while he had multiple orders to get out that day,” said Salvatore. “In between those orders, he still finds time to feed more people.”

Salvatore started the effort 39 years ago when he owned a restaurant in Wrightstown and organized Christmas dinner as a way to give back to the community. He invited children living at the Bethana Home to a free meal on Christmas Day.

The meal was inspired by an early memory of his father who one Christmas brought home an orphan from the Catholic Home For Destitute Children and gave him a place to stay over the holidays.

Salvatore, who was six years old at the time, was envious of all the gifts and attention the boy was receiving and let his thoughts be known. Seeing a chance to teach his son a lesson, his dad took young Paul to the orphanage to see where the boy lives.

“We went into the building and you walked up the steps. It was very stark, very bleak,” said Salvatore. “At the top of the steps was a large room with cots lined up like a dormitory. My father took me over and said, ‘You see this? This is how he sleeps. And you see this box? That’s everything he has.’

Chef Garvey shows volunteers which containers to use to pack the food.

“That made such an impression on me. I never forgot that. I said if I could help kids I would do it,” said Salvatore.

He hosted the kids from Bethana every Christmas Day from 1985 to 1992 at his restaurant. In 1992 he relocated the dinner to the Newtown Presbyterian Church after leaving the restaurant business.

When Bethana closed its group home on Second Street Pike, Salvatore decided to continue the Christmas dinner tradition, opening up the event to his Angel Tree recipients and senior citizens living in the Newtown area. About seven years ago, the decision was made to relocate the dinner to the Lower Bucks County Homeless Shelter

“I’ve been doing this now for 38 years. I remember so many people coming up to me over the years being so grateful. But I have to tell them, ‘Don’t thank me. I thank you. You made my Christmas.’

“I’m just glad I can be part of this,” said Salvatore. “I’m lucky enough to be the catalyst in that I put together the pieces that connect, but I can’t do this without the pieces.

“I want the light to shine on the people who make this happen,” he said. “That’s the Christmas giving experience and you can’t beat that.”

The meal is an extension of Salvatore’s Angel Tree project, which delivered more than 1,000 gifts this year to children and families living in the Council Rock School District.

Through the Angel Tree project, which Salvatore has organized for the past two decades, more than 100 families in the Council Rock School District will have a merrier Christmas this year with gifts to open and enjoy.

Volunteers assemble care packages for the homeless living in the woods in Lower Bucks and in the motels along Routes 1 and 13.