Whitby participates in social night of service

From left, Whitby faculty and staff: Alexis Ryan, Simone Becker, Beth Ferrer, Diana Ljepoja, Denise Vacca, Samantha Clark, Dimple Pradhan, Amanda Lavoie, Pamela Chapman, Tony Hoang, Jamie McQueen and Blake Glaeser; Executive Director of New Covenant Center John Gutman. Kneeling at bottom, from left, Whitby faculty and staff: Gail Griffin, Tim Schwartz, Sarah Mead, Priscilla Jelliffe and Melissa Holmes.

Faculty and staff members of the Whitby School in Greenwich wanted to get together for a “happy hour” on Jan. 19, but thought better of just trouping down to the nearest bar. They decided to do something substantially more uplifting and hit upon the idea of taking part in a Social Night of Service with the New Covenant Center in Stamford.

New Covenant Center is one of the more than two-dozen programs in Fairfield County provided by Catholic Charities. As part of its services, New Covenant operates a soup kitchen called the CafÃ©, and the volunteers from Whitby spent their evening being guided by the center”™s executive chef in preparing 125 meals to be served the next day. In addition to the night of service, members of the Whitby community donated $520 to the New Covenant Center.

“We thought, instead of spending $20 (or more) at a bar or restaurant, why not start the year off right and engage in service and socializing?” said Beth Ferrer, Whitby”™s community service coordinator.