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 Café, 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.