Community Link

We've been doing something at the church that's worth sharing here. We call it Community Link, and it's a liaison between the church and elderly shut-ins. What we do is get together as a group at the church--we usually have between 7 and 15 people there--on the third Saturday morning of the month. We make some food--we started out last January by making vasilopita (St. Basil's Bread) which turned out to be too big of a project, and we had problems with the bread being doughy, and I learned not to undertake such a big project in such a short amount of time next time! But I digress.....We make the food, then we share a simple lunch--either what we're making if it's "lunchy" or we bring a potluck meal of sorts. Then we go out in groups of two or three and take the food to people who have been contacted, usually shut-ins, but we also took a vasilopita to a woman who had recently lost her husband, and we're talking about taking food to new mothers, too. The people have been so grateful! They're so happy to see someone from the church, and have someone to talk to for an hour or so. Having the food is a great medium--a way to get in the door, for some who may be reluctant. Here are some of the food items we have made: in February, we made valentine cookies; once we made spanakopita (Greek spinach pie), once some of the Eritrian women from the parish came and showed us how to make Eritrian food, and this last time we just made a Greek salad and paired it with leftover tiropita (Greek cheese pie) from the Greek festival the previous weekend, and Greek cookies.

One real advantage is being able to find out the needs of the community. We've been able to find out which people don't have a way to get to the doctor or the grocery store, for example. I think there are probably plenty of people willing to help out when needed, if they just know that help is needed. Here is a way of getting that word out.

I'd like to share the story behind the Vasilopita--St. Basil's Bread: St. Basil was a bishop who lived in the fourth century. He wanted a way to help relieve the vast poverty he saw all around him, but didn't want to shame the poor people by handing them money in front of everyone. So, he began to bake loaves of sweet bread with money baked into it, and gave them out to people in need. We still bake money into it--usually a nickel or quarter, but I like to bake the Sacagawea dollars into mine. They're washed very well, and wrapped in foil so as not to contaminate the bread. :-) Nowadays, we eat the bread as a group--either as a family or a church group. As the bread is cut, everyone hopes they will get the piece with the coin in it, because that signifies good luck for the year (it's eaten on St. Basil's day, which is New Year's Day). I think it's a nice tradition.