Volunteers offer free Thanksgiving meals to visitors, high-rise residents

Details can get complicated when you’re serving 600 Thanksgiving meals.

The ingredients alone are daunting: 30 large turkeys, dozens of 1-gallon cans of yams, 36 bags of stuffing mix, 50 pounds of butter.

About 20 volunteers Thursday formed production lines inside Bethel United Methodist Church kitchen in Lower Burrell to turn those ingredients into freshly made meals — scooping generous helpings of turkey and veggies into cardboard trays Some were hand-delivered to six high-rises in the Alle-Kiski Valley, others were picked up at the church.

For Mark Resetar, the man at the epicenter of the operation, the reason behind the volunteer work is simple.

“It’s what Jesus expects us to do: feed the hungry,” said Resetar, 66, of Lower Burrell.

“We have no requirements. We don’t ask them questions before we feed them,” he added. “You’ve got a lot of people out there hurting and suffering and they’ve got nowhere to go. … This is just a way to help people.”

As cars snaked 10 and 20 deep around the church parking lot, volunteers delivered bags filled with hearty meals. Others took a moment to talk with the drivers about their problems. Several prayed together.

“We like that it isn’t just handing people a meal,” said volunteer John Fisher, 58, of Lower Burrell. “You just never know. The Lord may put someone in front of you who needs you to pray with them.”

The Fishers attend services at Riverside Community Church at its Pittsburgh Mills campus. But the reach of the Compassion Network, the informal collection of volunteers who staged this week’s free meal drive, extends beyond individual churches or municipal borders.

“Vandergrift? Lower Burrell?” said volunteer Cheryl Miller, 65, of Ford City. “Nobody knows each other, but Jesus knows us all.”

“The vast majority of people here are people of faith,” Resetar added. “But we welcome everybody.”

Chris Imm has been staffng the ovens to prep the meals for more than five years now. He showed up around 6 a.m. Thursday to get things heated up and cooking.

“I’d cook a thousand meals if I could — I’m all in,” Imm, 43, a lifelong Lower Burrell resident working alongside his daughter, Makayla, 18, said after prepping a tray filled with turkey. “I don’t care if you’re driving a Mercedes of some old beater. Maybe you have no place to go. We want to give you a meal.”

Jones Turkey Farm wanted to chip in, too, said Cary Rigatti, who helps the Jefferson Township, Butler County, business distribute free turkeys during the holidays.

The donations, he joked, were pretty informal. He couldn’t cite how many turkeys the farm had given away but estimated it was well into the hundreds.

“It’s a shame to say but I don’t even know,” Rigatti, who lives in Lower Burrell, said with a laugh. “People say they need a turkey, and we help. I don’t know if we keep track of it. He doesn’t claim it on taxes or anything. It’s just a connection between a farm and the streets.”

Volunteer spirit

Most the volunteers who filled the church and its parking lot Thursday had a story.

Beverly Glavan grew up in Salem, Ohio, but has embraced helping her new neighbors around Leechburg.

“My Mom and Dad used to volunteer, too,” she said with a laugh as she handed someone a cardboard tray to fill. “It’s in our blood.”

For Rob and Rachel Liotta, Thursday was about family. While the parents darted between the kitchen and the prep area, their daughter Abbey, 16, filled trays with turkey. Their son, Levi — or “Bub” — dished out mashed potatoes.

“We did this because I felt like it was something bigger than me,” said Rachel Liotta, 50. “And we wanted to instill in the kids that it’s not always about them.”

“Food heals the soul,” Rob Liotta added with a smile. “I just look forward to the people.”

At the center of it all was Resetar, whose magnetic personality drew people of many stripes and backgrounds to volunteer.

Two or three dozen cars passed through the church parking lot Thursday afternoon. Resetar continued walking from car to car, talking with people, asking how he and his crew could help them.

He’s got the work down.

His father, a former Lower Burrell police chief, would bring troubled kids and parolees to family dinners. When people needed help, Resetar learned, they turned to his family.

“I don’t like to talk about myself a lot,” Resetar said. “God’s blessed me with the ability to deal with the details.”

“We’re doing it as a way to show people there are people who love them and want to help them,” he added. “It’s a microwave society. They want to see something immediately. We invest in people. We work to fix their situation, not just hand them a meal.”

People like Brittany Seanor called the meals a blessing.

The Manor Township woman, 34, is between jobs. If she couldn’t pick up the four free meals, she wasn’t sure how she would celebrate Thanksgiving with her two kids.

“It helpful to know,” she said, “even being in a tough spot and all, there are people who care.”