Published by Garnet Valley Press | By Peg DeGrassa | July 13, 2017

CHESTER>>The room was abuzz with extra excitement Monday morning and the burst of energy didn’t all come from the coffee. Volunteers and guests at the Coffee Club inside Catholic Social Service’s Family Service Center, 130 E. 7th Street, were sampling the popular artisanal Firehouse donuts donated earlier that morning by longtime fireman and EMT Kevin Carney. Made in Springfield, the donuts were an appreciated addition to the usual morning coffee, and partakers couldn’t thank Carney enough for the dozens and dozens of fresh donuts and rolls that he carted in for everyone to enjoy.

The ten-year-old Coffee Club is open to everyone from 9-10:30, four mornings a week at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s CSS building, the former Saint Michael Catholic Church. Serving more than a thousand cups of coffee each month, the Coffee Club offers fresh coffee, a little snack, lots of friendly conversation and a place to sit awhile and rest and enjoy a few minutes of nonjudgmental fellowship. The Coffee Club also offers a public shower and laundry facilities which guests in need can sign up in advance to use.

Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Rev. Anthony Orth, the pastor of St. Gabriel’s Parish in Norwood, gathers with a host of volunteers to minister to those in need. They brew coffee and share whatever donations are available that day, with anyone and everyone, who walks through the door. Donations have included breakfast sandwiches from Wawa, hot dogs and cheese from Dietz and Watson, pastries and cakes from Maria’s Prime Time Bakery and the generous ongoing supply of items from the parishioners of Saint Gabriel’s. In addition to food items, sometimes other donations pour in as well. Clothes Quarters in Folsom recently donated many pairs of shoes which the volunteers were preparing to distribute.

“We have bins in the back of our church,” added Phyllis Floyd of Prospect Park, who, like Franz, is a member of St. Gabriel Parish. “Parishioners continually fill the containers with toiletries, clothing, food and other needed items. They donate money and gift cards, too. The people of our parish have been really wonderful.”

The Catholic Social Service’s ten-year-old drop-in morning gathering, took on a new life after Father Orth and his parishioners became involved there, becoming passionate about the charity. Father Orth began volunteering at the Coffee Club about five years ago when he was pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Essington. When St. Margaret Mary Parish merged into St. Gabriel Parish, with Father Orth named as the pastor, he kept coming to the Coffee Club, often bringing a few parishioners along as well.

In addition to their volunteerism at the Coffee Club, St. Gabriel parishioners invite the Coffee Club guests on “field trips” to their Norwood parish. They provide transportation to the parish and a day that usually includes Mass and a meal afterwards, provided and set up by parish volunteers. Often the church volunteers will set up a table of donations so that their invited guests can “go shopping.” The volunteers said that they especially enjoy hosting the Coffee Club participants for special occasions like St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day and standard holidays. Earlier this month, St. Gabriel held a Fourth of July “Welcome, Refugees!” patriotic celebration event at their church following a Mass.

In 2016, as part of National Volunteer Week, Father Orth was named Catholic Social Services Volunteer of the Year for his work as chaplain at the Coffee Club. This year, Mary Stock, a retired nurse and member of St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Chester, who also volunteers regularly at the Coffee Club, was given the same honor. Both were chosen for the special recognition from among 3000 or more volunteer nominees from all over the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who go “above and beyond.”

Kathleen Leary of Brookhaven considers herself a Coffee Club “success story.” Once homeless and a guest of the Club, she now volunteers there as often as she can. The former flight attendant praised Catholic Social Services, Father Orth, Floyd and Franz, for not only helping her to get back on her feet, but for actually physically helping her with the move to her apartment.

“Everyone here is so caring,” Leary said, smiling as she glanced around the room. “I know how much the volunteers here helped me when I was in an unfortunate situation so I am always happy to come to offer friendship and support to other Coffee Club guests.”

Floyd, who has been a volunteer at Coffee Club for three years, said the actual attendance numbers vary, but dozens of area residents always come.

“There is no preaching done here,” Floyd stated. “We’re here to offer fellowship and friendship, a bite to eat and sometimes a hot shower and clean clothes.”

If guests need more than the Coffee Club offers, they can find other resources at the Catholic Social Services office, just a door away.

“The friendships that we have developed by volunteering here are extra bonuses to the joy we reap from helping our neighbors in need,” Franz shared. “I am a stay-at-home mom and my son is away at college. I like to do for others so this is rewarding and fulfilling for me.”

“Make no mistake about it,” Floyd added as she unloaded her car with a variety of the donations, as a stream of people in need gathered around the hatchback. “We could not do any of what we do here without the wonderful, generous people who help us, time and again. Those who cannot physically volunteer will offer money and other goods. Our parishioners and friends give us packs of new underwear and socks and toiletries so that we are able to offer them to those who take a shower here. Volunteers bake desserts and drop off all kinds of items that they think we can use in this ministry.. Just like the Firehouse Donuts arriving this morning, our community in Delaware County has been very kind and extremely generous.”

“There is a nice spirit of fellowship here and everyone feels welcome,” Father Orth said with a joyful look lighting up his face. “Most volunteers who help out once, end up coming again and again.”

“Coming here makes us appreciate our own blessings and opens our eyes to the struggles of many in our community,” Floyd remarked. “We are blessed to be able to put smiles on people’s faces and maybe help them out a little. That’s what friends do.”

(Photo Credit: Garnet Valley Press)