Bob Bolus has his reasons for saying Christmas can be a lonely day, and for the last 20 years he’s been doing his part to shed them.
Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet, but the Scranton businessman already is laying plans for the 20th annual Bob Bolus Sr. Christmas Day Dinner at St. Patrick’s Church, 1403 Jackson St. in West Scranton.
“To me, Christmas is probably about the loneliest day of the year for people, and I think it’s the most important day of the year on our calendar,” Mr. Bolus said. “This is a meal for everyone. It’s not a homeless dinner. It’s a meal for those who don’t want to be alone on Christmas.”
It started in 1994 after his trucking company found itself in possession of an unwanted pallet of perfectly good frozen turkeys that a grocery store had rejected.
The logistics debacle arrived at a time when Mr. Bolus was battling his own bout of loneliness, and he reached out to a few friends who he knew might also be alone on Christmas.
“There was a time, you know, we all go through some things,” he said. “The best way for us to deal with the issues we were dealing with was to do something for somebody else.”
They didn’t know what to expect, he said, but the first event was a hit.
“There might have been 100-some people in the first one,” Mr. Bolus said. The annual dinner now draws more than 3,000 people and delivers close to 600 hot meals to people who can’t get out.
Mr. Bolus pays for the food from his own pocket. He would not say how much the whole thing costs.
Community members who wish to volunteer to assist with the preparation, cleanup, delivery and rides, can call 570-346-7659.
He even sends out a shuttle bus to the interstate rest stops in the region to pick up any truck drivers who might be spending Christmas on the road and could use a meal.
At the end of the meal, which runs from noon to 6 p.m., volunteers send their guests home with a carry-out package of turkey and a few fixings to quench post-feast hunger pangs.
“And you know what, you never had a chance to be alone on Christmas,” Mr. Bolus said.
Contact the writer:
joconnell@timesshamrock.com, @jon_oc on Twitter.