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Couple gives homeless a Thanksgiving
Catonsville Times
November, 24, 2009
By Lindsay Kalter
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Like many people hosting Thanksgiving dinners this week, Joseph Loverde will put hours of preparation into the feast.
But the Catonsville resident isn't planning a standard family meal.
His guest list has about 170 members of the area's homeless population.
Loverde will host the third annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless Nov. 26 at Shady Grove Hospital Center's Rice Auditorium.
"I like the holidays, and I like doing things for other people during the holidays," said Loverde, a real estate broker at Realty Concepts on Frederick Road.
Loverde started the annual dinner after he and his wife, Cindy, founded a nonprofit called the Loverde Family Community Fund.
He said the fund works with local organizations such as the Catonsville Sunrise Rotary Club and the Community College of Baltimore County Foundation.
Loverde has done community volunteer work since about 1986 with area groups such as the Western Family branch of the YMCA and the former ReVisions Foundation.
The first Thanksgiving dinner in 2007 was the fund's first project, he said.
This week, about 40 local volunteers will join the Loverdes in setting up for the event and distributing the food.
This year's dinner guests will include people from the Westside Homeless Shelter, the Mosaic Community Services at the Spring Grove Hospital Center and the Night of Peace Family Shelter in Woodlawn.
Brian Constantini, who has a long history of nonprofit work, was instrumental in the dinner's conception and has volunteered from the beginning.
The Catonsville resident said one of the goals was to give guests a traditional restaurant-style meal that is rare at homeless shelters.
"The idea is to have a real dinner, not just one more food line," said Constantini, who works for the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore.
"We wanted to make a feast out of it and actually serve them," he said. "We wanted to give them an actual holiday."
The dinner is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. and will include a visit from two of "Santa's helpers" bearing gifts.
Constantini's daughter, Cara, who teaches third grade at Johnnycake Elementary School on Craigmont Road, will sing.
Cafe on the Grove at Spring Grove Hospital Center will provide food, as will Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar on Baltimore National Pike.
In past years, dinner guests have received items including gloves, socks and toothbrushes.
Mary Lou Hastry, a volunteer and resident of Charlestown Maryland, recalls a 5-year-old boy's excitement over getting his own toothbrush; he had previously shared one with family members.
"It's so much appreciated," she said of the event. "We don't do it for the thank-you that we get, but it does make you feel good.
Loverde said so many local people volunteered this year that there is a backlog of about 10 people.
"It's the time of year," he said. "People are in the mood for giving and serving."
