Meat pie supper to help Somerset veterans
George Austin Editor
SOMERSET — People often try to replicate something that has been successful. The meat pie supper that has been held at the Swansea Congregational Christian Church to raise money to help veterans in need has been very successful during the past eight years. The Congregational Christian Church in Somerset would like to replicate that success and so is planning a very similar meat pie supper in conjunction with the Memorial Day weekend.
The supper on May 27 at the start of the Memorial Day weekend at the church will be a free will offering fundraiser with the board of deacons at the church and the congregation funding the cost of the dinner. The public is welcome to attend. All of the donations collected at the dinner, as well as donations of money or gift cards that are made before the dinner will be used to provide food for veterans in need from Somerset. Somerset Veterans' Agent Heather Cheetham has agreed to distribute the gift cards for food to veterans in need throughout the year. The gift cards for food will not be for all veterans, only those who are the neediest.
"They served us, we should serve them," said Karen Rousseau, a member of the church who is helping to organize the fundraiser.
The church is starting to ask businesses for donations to support the meat pie supper to help veterans in Somerset. They are accepting gift cards and monetary donations. The donations are tax deductible. All checks should be made out to Congregational Christian Church of Somerset with "veterans' supper" in the memo section. Those who would like to speak to someone about a donation or arrange for a donation to be picked up, can call the church office at (508)672-6623.
The supper, which will be to honor all veterans, past and present, will be served from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the church's hall located at 1411 County St. in Somerset. The menu will consist of a quarter piece of Willow Tree meat pie, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, rolls, beverages and assorted desserts.
Karen Rousseau, one of the members of the church working on the organization of the meat pie supper, said Cheetham is very excited about the fundraiser.
Members of the Somerset and Swansea Congregational Christian Churches are working on organizing the meat pie supper in Somerset.
"We're going to try to do the same format, the same menu, the same concept," said Cindy Miranda, a member of the Swansea Congregational Christian Church who is helping the Somerset church to organize its fundraiser.
Miranda is a Somerset resident. Her husband, Ed Miranda, a Vietnam veteran, and a team of deacons started the meat pie supper at the Swansea church. A neighbor of the Mirandas attends the Somerset church and asked them about having a similar meat pie supper there. Cindy said they then went to see Cheetham and she supported the idea.
Cindy said the first meat pie supper in Swansea raised $2,000 to help veterans and that number has increased to $8,000.
"We're hoping this one will grow just as much," Cindy said as she sat in the Somerset church on Saturday. "It's nice that both towns are helping veterans in their community."
Cindy noted that every penny raised at the meat pie supper will be used to help local veterans.
"It's the right thing to do," said Rev. Cheryl Rieder, the pastor of the church whose father is a retired Navy SEAL.
Cindy said there are a lot of people from Somerset who attend the meat pie supper in Swansea which is held around Veterans' Day in November, so she hopes the reverse will happen at the supper in Somerset in May.
Rev. Rieder said there will be a service to observe the losses of veterans at the Congregational Christian Church of Somerset sometime around Memorial Day, although it may not be that weekend. She has said a prayer at a lot of the town's veterans' ceremonies in past years.
"It also speaks to the churches working together, rather than opposing each other," Rev. Rieder said of the meat pie supper that will be held in Somerset.
Cindy said she would talk to Rev. Holly Norwick, the pastor of the Congregational Christian Church in Swansea, about advertising the Somerset church's meat pie supper at the Swansea church.
Rev. Rieder said there "is a good handful" of veterans who are members of the Somerset church, including Music Director Sammy Costa who is in the National Guard.
Rousseau said the government does not do enough to help veterans coming back from wars. Cindy said it takes a few months for veterans to get their benefits when they come back from wars. She said Cheetham will be on hand at the meat pie supper with forms veterans can fill out and paperwork about veterans' benefits.
Rev. Rieder said that many veterans come home today with injuries that they would not have survived in past wars, but said there is not enough support for them.
"They serve us," Rev. Rieder said. "We should be doing stuff to serve them and their families."
Cindy said an important aspect about the meat pie supper is the community helping veterans.