Armenian Family Support Services ÝAFSSß serves 3rd annual Thanksgiving Street Haven Womens shelter serving over 100 women. Through donations, AFSS volunteers cook the dinner with all its trimmings and bring to the shelter to be served to the homeless or disadvantaged. Each year more and more women attend. This Dinner at Women’s Shelter – by Teny Movel, October 2008 The afternoon started out by meeting some of the great volunteers on the AFSS Board of Directors, namely Sonia Mutevelli, Maida Icliates, Diana Walsh, George Paraghamian and Rita Odjaghian. Then I was introduced to several of the youths who would be helping serve the dinner. The women started coming into the shelter around 4:30pm and they were obviously excited about the Thanksgiving dinner about to be served. Before the meal, Maida Icliates, Chair of the AFSS, thanked the women for attending the Thanksgiving Dinner, introduced all the volunteers and wished all a Happy Thanksgiving. The meal was started with a prayer. The members of AFSS always serve the dinner to each of the women, which is something they were not used to because they usually have to wait in line. The women liked the idea of being served because it was like they were at a restaurant and they were being treated.
On Monday October 6th 2008 I participated to help the Armenian Family Support Services ÝAFSSß of the Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Toronto with their annual Thanksgiving Dinner mission. This was the third year the AFSS provides a classic turkey dinner to the was the first time I volunteered along side many young volunteers and I found this experience very insightful.
Before going into the shelter natually one has apprehensions and stereotypes and it was interesting to see that the shelter was very well kept and the women were truly very polite, gentle and kind. When we spoke to some of the women it became evident that each of them were from different parts of the world and each of them had their own story as to why they were at the shelter. It really made me realize that these women are not in the shelter just because they are a certain type of person but rather for some reason or another, their different paths in life have lead them to the shelter.
Sonia Mutevelli had a very interesting conversation with one of the women, “Diane” when she found out we were from an Armenian Chruch group she immeditaly began to tell us how she knew about Armenians. This lady was very well educated and knew a lot about the Armenian history, especially the Armenian Genocide. For the next two hours, all the tables were full, with more and more women coming and going. Many came back and stayed for second servings and to chat with us.
What I found most interesting was that they had created their own community within this shelter. The shelter was a safe place for them to go and meet with friends and that’s something we all have in common -“community”. Looking at these womens pasts it was evident that some of them were very well educated or from good families but something in their lives, whether it be health, mental health, financial circumstances, abuse, drugs, addiction had changed them and led them to this shelter.
So you ask what we should give thanks to ? these ladies were so grateful for the Thanksgiving dinner. They thanked us by clapping, talking to us and even joining our group pictures.
At the end of the day one realizes that althought we live our daily lives and walk past the disadvantaged, one of the most important things to realize is that they are really no different from us.
It was an honour to serve dinner to these ladies not because it made me feel better but because they made me realize our lives are very fragile and the importance of family, friendship, faith, and community.
Thank you to all the volunteers and donors for their generosity in making this a special mission.
Youth Volunteers:
Karine Mermer
Teny Movel
Sharysse Kayoumedjian
Karnig Icliates
Aline Farkouzian
Food Donors and Volunteers:
Nora Ohanjanian
Siranush Icliates
Seza Nazarian
Houry Aznavourian
Arpi Shalemon
George Paraghamian
Maida Icliates
Diana Walsh
Sonia Mutevelli
Rita Odjaghian
Cadburys
Thanksgiving Dinner at the Street Haven Women's Shelter
by
Teny Movel