On Tuesday, Nov. 19, dozens of people gathered at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township not to hit the ice, but to help those in need.

In all, 75 volunteers helped Semper Gratus, a Pittsburgh nonprofit whose name means “Always grateful” in Latin, pack 500 meal boxes to be distributed throughout Western Pennsylvania. The boxes have enough food to make a Thanksgiving meal for about 2,000 people.

This is the third year the group has packed boxes at the Lemieux Center. As the organization’s president put it Tuesday, the group might be small but the giving community it taps into is huge.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity in the season of giving and the season of togetherness to come together for a common cause and one defined purpose,” Semper Gratus president Ian Cole said of the event. “All we’re trying to do is lead by example and set the precedent that giving is good and giving can be cool.”

As with so many projects, the volunteers doing the packing are only part of the chain of kindness that makes such donations possible. The food was donated by several different Walmart locations.

After the meals were packed, Pitt Ohio trucking company transports them to Familylinks, a health and human services nonprofit based out of Pittsburgh, which handles the distribution.

And as is so often the case, the work done by the volunteers has a longer lasting effect than just a few hours spent packing boxes. It makes a potentially fraught holiday into something to celebrate.

“The holidays are hard on everybody, but especially someone that’s at or below the poverty line,” Lauren Galletta, Familylinks director of development and outreach, said. “We’re really excited to be able to give our clients this full box of food ready to go with all the Thanksgiving fixings to make it a really nice holiday.”

Food donations like the one managed by Semper Gratus are a way that nearly anyone can have an impact on their community.

— JK