Joseph Sabino Mistick: People who care keep Christmas alive for those in need

“Santa isn’t coming to certain homes because they’re poor? I don’t think so. Santa’s sleigh stops here first,” according to the Rev. Tracy Hudson, the manager of volunteers and the holiday coat and toy drive for Pittsburgh’s East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM).

That’s the Christmas spirit that will make the difference for our neighbors who are facing tough times in tough places this year. The experts tell us that the economy is on the rebound, but that’s not visible in the communities served by EECM and other organizations and churches in our area.

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reported the need for food now is as high as it was in the early days of the pandemic.

The demand for EECM’s food bank and community meals, which are available throughout the year, was up 120% this past year. The emergency shelter and a temporary overflow shelter are filled to capacity every night. And the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas meals draw longer lines every year.

Judy Wolfe, who has volunteered at EECM for 15 years, shows up early three days a week to prepare lunch and then stands on her feet for an hour and a half to serve a solid meal to folks who otherwise would go hungry. The 68-year-old Highland Park resident, who is Jewish, especially loves serving the Christmas meal.

“I take pride in the people, and it makes no difference,” she says. “When I see the people and they’re happy to get a warm place and a hot meal, it warms their souls and mine.”

It is a reward shared by the close-knit group of volunteers who love seeing each other on a daily basis.

The circumstances that put people in the spot where they need help can happen to anyone. Bernardine Williamson of Homewood tells her story on EECM’s website.

When she was 31 years old, she lost her job and started driving for Uber to provide for her five young children. In short order, she learned her earnings were outstripped by the cost of child care, and she had to quit. It is a daily struggle, but Christmas is especially hard.

“This time of year I become obsessed and filled with fear about whether my sweet kids will have a Christmas,” she says.

Because of the holiday meals, the coat drive and the toy drive at EECM, her kids will have a real holiday.

Father Dan Walsh is a Spiritan priest who serves the people of Hazelwood, a neighborhood that has struggled since the collapse of Big Steel. Father Dan is a Pittsburgh native who spent years as a missionary in the poor villages in the Brazilian Amazon. He knows poverty here and abroad, and he says that there is a universal benefit to helping others.

“Creating the opportunity for people to give is important,” he says. “People look forward to making a difference in the lives of others, people they don’t know. It’s an exchange that we all need.”

With the help of community volunteers and donations, Hazelwood residents can get a cooked meal, groceries, warm coats and health-care assessments by Duquesne University pharmacy students.

And Father Dan has one more reminder for all of us.

“There is a big difference between poverty and misery. People may have nothing, but they can make it as long as there are people around them who care.”

That is the most important message of Christmas.