Media, PA – “Dinner is served,” said parishioner Peggy Galatsiatos outside the parking lot of St. George Greek Orthodox Church yesterday. Greek lemon Tilapia with rice pilaf and green beans in a tomato sauce (fasolakia). Yum-yum. The church GOYAn’s chipped in as well with vegan cupcakes. Pick up one, two, or more prepared meals ready to go. And it was all free!
The parishioners of St. George Church decided to feed the community last night just as the dinner bell rang, and you didn’t even have to get out of your car. You simply drove up to the white tent, asked for as many meals as you wanted, and drinks and dessert were offered too! All courtesy of the parishioners of St. George Greek Orthodox Church.
A bucket, bearing the message “donations,” passed by your door window. You could put in as much or little as you wanted. With parish members in the kitchen cooking and others in front of the church, some 400 hot meals were brought out for donation. Police, firefighters, and first responders showed up along with staff from Fair Acres retirement home, who grabbed ninety of the dinners for the staff.
“Let’s feed the community,” was the message from Father Bourantis, the parish priest. The food had been purchased for a February event that was canceled, so the community decided to give it away. “It’s the first time we’re doing this and hope to do another later in the summer,” said Galatsiatos.
With many of the local Greek festivals and dances being canceled as a result of COVID-19, the different Greek Orthodox communities throughout the Delaware Valley are reaching back to their Hellenic roots of “philotimo”; a concept of pride in self, pride in family, pride in the community, and doing the right thing. They are reaching out to their communities to help and to let them know that they are there for them.