Pontifex offers free Thanksgiving dinner, gives away coats
FREMONT - The Pontifex in Fremont hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 21 for those in need. The dinner included turkey, pasta salad, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie, along with a choice of coffee, juice, or water.
About 70 people showed up to enjoy the company and the meal.
Pontifex creates a welcome community
“This just gets me out of the house and it's nice,” said, John Woodman, a local man who visits Pontifex. “I come and eat here a lot; I enjoy it.”
New Hope Vineyard Church donated the turkeys this year to the Pontifex which was the first year Pontifex did not have to provide the turkeys.
The event had about 10 volunteers, who helped out before with the soup kitchens, the Monday food pantries, or other events held by Pontifex.
Sam Dagg, new president of the Pontifex, said, “We're nothing without our volunteers. I couldn't do what I do without them.”
Dagg working to offer more events
This is the second week Dagg was been with Pontifex and he said he has big plans for upcoming events.
One event was a coat giveaway held on Friday. Free coats were given to anyone who needed one.
People could receive one coat each, but other donated items included gloves, hats, scarves, blankets, sweaters, and shoes. Pontifex did not limit people on the smaller items.
About 31 people showed up for the coat drive which ended at 2 p.m. The rest of the coats went to The Clothing Corral in Oak Harbor, a nonprofit organization that helps those in need.
“I volunteer on Tuesday for the soup kitchen,” said Cheryl Carrier, a first-year volunteer. “They needed help with this so they called us in to help. It's been slow, but it hasn’t been cold enough yet to think about winter coats.”
Many of the coats were donated by different people from the community, and several different churches.
“I'm super happy, like I'm here for a reason. I think that God asked me to serve him and help the Pontifex and the people,” Dagg said. “Not that many people know what we are about and the things we do, we want to get the word out that we are here to help.”
The Pontifex has many programs to aid anyone in need — those include the Happy Eats Food Pantry from noon to 3 p.m. on Mondays; the Happy Eats Soup Kitchen at 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 11 a.m. Fridays, and Showers of Blessings from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Pontifex also offers other special programs, such as the 20th Annual Christmas Eve Celebration with a Christmas Eve dinner, Santa, and live music. That will be 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 24.
Pontifex, in the former Fremont Post Office at 416 West State St., also accepts donations of shoes in any condition. The shoes go to different are charities.
For more information about events, visit Pontifex, Inc. Facebook page or pontifexfremont.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Pontifex serves the community with food, coats for those in need
