Best Gift Ever

As a father, I am first and foremost grateful for my family and our son, Leland. He is a gift to us not only from God but his birthparents as well. In so many ways, Leland chose us.

Last year, I exercised a little staff privilege to have Leland with me on campus for the annual St. Monica Thanksgiving Dinner & Boutique. There were only a handful of us, donning gloves, masks, and face shields to serve the hundreds of people that come to St. Monica to recieve a meal, basic necessities of clothing and toiletries, but most importantly, a warm welcome. Leland was a little young for some of the heavy lifting but had a blast passing out bottles of water with Fr. Prosper, breaking down cardboard boxes, and being a food runner from the kitchen in the auditorium to the line of guests in the middle of the schoolyard.

But the welcome is where he truly shined: standing beside Msgr. Torgerson as they greeted each guest one-by-one. There’s nothing quite like, “Happy Thanksgiving!” from the voice of a seven-year-old to a stranger. After the hundredth time, you’d think it would be as annoying as a broken record, but instead, it made my heart well up even greater to the point of bursting.

So many in our parish have the same sentiment: the St. Monica Thanksgiving Dinner is the most incredible way to kick off the holiday season of giving. Hundreds long to serve because it is in giving that we receive and next Wednesday, Nov. 24 in great abundance.

This year, there are still restrictions: we only have opportunities for half the usual volunteers and could not accept used clothing or homemade food. Through your generosity however, we will buy sleeping bags, complete sets of warm clothes, outerwear, and assemble a full toiletry kit for each guest. A single family purchased all 110 turkeys, which will be cooked and carved by the Jonathan Club. Our kitchens will be bustling preparing all the sides. Then, when all is ready and the gates open—we all get to be like Leland and offer a joyful, “Happy Thanksgiving!”