Season of giving
WAYNESBURG – In this season of giving, one doesn’t have to look very far to find those who are extending a hand to their fellow man. But, for some, good deeds aren’t reliant upon large holidays, like Easter or Christmas. These benevolent souls find sharing with those less fortunate feeds their spirit as much, if not more, than the spirit of those on the receiving end.
This past weekend, a group of members from Steps Inside Inc., a social club for those in addiction recovery, did just that.
“This is a part of our gratitude of our sobriety. It is what we need to do,” said Steps Inside member Karen Sisler, as she talked about the gift bags the club put together. “We feel we have received so much.”
Fellow member Mike Shuster called it “our way of giving back.”
The group chose a place synonymous with giving since the early ’90s, the soup kitchen held at St. Ann Catholic Church in Waynesburg, also known as the Good Neighbors Lunch, to spread a little Christmas joy. They brought dozens of gift bags for men, women and children filled with fresh fruits, small toys and stuffed animals, crackers, soap and other personal items.
The lunch, held three days a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, is not directly affiliated with the church. In fact, since its inception, many organizations and individuals lent a hand to keep it going but, as is tradition, a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer precedes each meal.
At its completion, a Steps Inside member announced, “Each of you can take something home with you today a little extra.”
Slowly those in attendance made their way to the tables at the back of the church basement.
A 6-year-old girl hugged a teddy bear she chose from various extras on one table, her 4-year-old sister also found one tucked inside her bag.
A young man smiled at Sisler as he picked out a warm hat from several new hats and gloves available.
This is the fifth year Steps Inside chose the Good Neighbors Lunch at St. Ann as the recipient of its annual giving.
“You realize it is not all about you,” Shuster said.
Shuster and Sisler shared a little bit about the personal journeys that led them to Steps Inside and landed them at St. Ann for the lunch before Christmas.
“I was in and out of recovery for 20 years,” Shuster, 56, said. “It stuck and took this time.”
What he found by joining this group and attending the 12-step meetings that use the Steps Inside facility on Morris Street in Waynesburg made a difference, he said.
Sisler wasn’t originally from Greene County, where her late husband, Barry Sisler, grew up. But, following his death in 2004, the result of injuries sustained in a 2003 auto accident, she said it was where she wanted to raise their three sons.
She said alcoholism ran in her family.
“My father was sober for 44 years,” Sisler said, noting he passed away. “Now, he watches over me and makes sure I stay sober.”
Shuster said members may each get to Steps Inside a little bit differently, but the end result is the same. “We all understand and stay sober together,” Shuster said.
“The Steps Inside community and the recovery community is my family here,” Sisler said. “I’m proud to be in the program.”
St. Ann church member Peggy Rock, 87, said she believes a similar sense of community is in part why many of the 35 to 55 people who attend the lunch three days a week return again-and-again. Rock found volunteering at the meals “a lesson in humility and thankfulness.”
“This is just my theory, but I believe the quality of the food and the socializing is generally giving the people that come better health both physically and mentally,” she said. She noticed through the years that less attendees miss the meals for health-related reasons. Rock believes this started when the meals increased from one day a week to three in 1994.
Emma Barchiesi, who refers to herself as the “unofficial” person in charge of the soup kitchen, said she would agree with that assessment. Barchiesi would know. She has been involved for all 20 years.
“Basically, the ones that come are here all the time. You may see a few new faces now and then but mostly the same people,” she said.
There are many groups, businesses and individuals that help make the soup kitchen work week after week, year after year. Among them are unsung heroes, like Barchiesi, who gets up early to make sure a hot meal is ready and available for anyone who wants to partake. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the door is open to anyone in need of a hot meal, she said.
Like the Neighbors’ lunch, Steps Insides doors are also open to all in need of support. It is a place where many local 12-step groups hold meetings for those with addictions such as, gambling, drugs, alcohol or overeating.
Taking a break from handing out gift bags, Shuster said, “All we want is for somebody that is struggling to reach out and to be welcomed with open arms. If you need help with any type of addiction, we want to be there for you.”
It is all part of giving back and recovery “one day at a time,” Sisler said.