One Heart to Serve Many

By Karen West

If home is where the heart is, and charity begins at home, then charity begins at Cor Unum. If Cor Unum is a foreign concept to you, consider yourself lucky. The Cor Unum Meal Center (literal translation is ‘One Heart’) is a not-for-profit meal center located in South Lawrence, one of the poorest cities in the United States and the poorest in Massachusetts. Its purpose is to provide nutritious meals in a safe environment to anyone in need. More than 200,000 meals are served annually, 365 days of the year. Hunger does not take a holiday and neither does Cor Unum.

It’s Christmas Eve, and like many of you, I am spending time sharing laughs with close friends. However, this particular Christmas Eve has brought us to Cor Unum to volunteer as servers and bus staff. Outside it’s a mere 31 degrees and the winds are gusting to 20 mph. The dinner guests have started to arrive, patiently waiting at the door.

After receiving our staff aprons and a 20-minute briefing, I am thankful for the restaurant experience that I did have. Just my years working in the home office helped me to better maneuver throughout the dining room and kitchen. Though there were some hiccups along the way, the experience was one that was both rewarding and eye-opening. My friend, Dawn, and I paired up to serve three-course meals along with a selection of beverages to singles, couples, families, and unsupervised teens. As the night progressed, I realized that some of the volunteers were also those in need, as they sat down for their own hot meal. Mostly everyone was pleasant and, as some guests concluded their meals and left, they extended us a “Merry Christmas”. One gentleman wearing a reflector jacket even thanked me for sharing my Christmas Eve with him. Another man kissed the hands of several of the lady volunteers. Undoubtedly, I will remember some of the faces – like a very polite little boy in the blue and white striped shirt, the older man with the ponytail, and the young man with the kind face and soft eyes.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give,” are words by Kahlil Gibran, novelist and poet. I believe that giving both is important. To find out more about the center, visit corunummealcenter.org or call (978) 688-8900.