Christmas party at the Society of Saint Vincent the Paul
Grazyna Nawrocka

This year Society of Saint Vincent the Paul at OLGC held Christmas Party on December29 th . We started with a prayer and then Father Abundo gave inspirational talk. He emphasized important role the organization have in fighting poverty and invited us to humbly answer the call to action. There were 75 Vincentians and guests attending the party. For the lack of snow in the city this winter, we were encouraged to dress in white. Among distinguished guests were Father John Cosgrove, Father John Louis and Brother Robert. Noradine was a MC. The gym was decorated for the occasion and there were banners expressing the spirit of our society. The food was delicious, abundant and representing diversity of our parish. Amongothers there was something Korean, Filipino, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Polish. I was delighted seeing variety of desserts, and especially enjoyed freshly baked puto. There was enough food for second and third helpings, and I’ve seen many party goers taking advantage of it. Although there were many fun activities, I spent time trying to talk to companions at my table. It turned out that they were from Poland and spoke our native language. They had fascinating stories to tell. We’ve done a little bit of singing along, but missed trivia and Zumba as well as other performances. I had a great time, but had to leave early to go to 7pm mass. I haven’t won any of door prizes and missed raffle results. That’s ok, I am not a gambler anyway. From the report shared after the party, I found out that we not only had a wonderful time, got opportunity to meet each other, but also made over $380 to share with the downtrodden and poor. If you missed this year’s party, we hope that you will not miss the next opportunity like that. It is time well spent and contributes to building a stronger community.