Volunteers find Christmas tradition at St. Vincent de Paul

The list of Christmas Day volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul stops at 150.

The limit isn’t due to lack of people willing to sacrifice their holiday to service. The shelter coordinators cap the roster at 150 because, despite dozens of additional volunteers, they can’t physically fit any more into the cafeteria.

Almost three decades into his career with St. Vincent de Paul, CEO Michael Acaldo is still awed by community turnout.

“I’ve been here for 26 Christmases, and I’ve seen families come in to volunteer for generations,” Acaldo says. “It’s just tremendous to see.”

Most of us will never experience hunger and helplessness during the holidays. But while we cozy up with new toys and full stomachs, hundreds migrate from downtown streets for a hot meal at St. Vincent de Paul. Acaldo estimates the shelter served 800 to 1,000 people last Christmas.

Each guest—the volunteer team makes a point to refer to visitors in need as guests—is greeted with a “Merry Christmas,” seated at a cafeteria table and served dishes of the home-cooked feast by volunteers, plates delivered restaurant-style to each seat. Other volunteers dine with the guests, offering hugs and warm words, while even more give out gifts and coats to children. Christmas brings more families to the shelter than any other day of the year, and for many of these children, these will be the only gifts they receive for Christmas.

The holiday rush would be impossible, Acaldo says, without their army of volunteers. Some have returned every Christmas for decades, while others are newer, but they all say the same thing: They’ll be back this year and every year that follows.

Take the Dorniers. At only 6 years old, Bailey Dornier began trading hours of Christmas Day for serving food and passing out gifts. Now 16 and a sophomore at Catholic High, he’s still happy to have spent part of every Christmas for the past 10 years volunteering at the shelter with his mother, Lynley.

“The gifts are probably the best part. Christmas is always a fun time, but it’s great to see smiles on people’s faces that you caused,” Bailey says. “I remember one year handing them out, and the little kids were so happy just to be getting something instead of nothing. I was like, ‘I don’t want anything for Christmas this year.’ I wanted to give everything I had to them.”

Lynley is a single mom, and in Bailey’s childhood, she always looked for ways to instill him with a sense of selflessness. Her background in social work inspired her to get involved with St. Vincent de Paul during the holidays.

“I remember one mom thanking me because she couldn’t get her kids anything for Christmas. She told me, ‘Thank y’all so much for giving them what I wasn’t able to give,’” Lynley says, tears in her eyes. “And that was not only the gifts and the food but literally the spirit of Christmas and the holidays.”

Like Lynley, 32-year-old Ashley Harrison is also a single mother. With kids aged 14, 13 and 7, Harrison currently works two jobs to support her family, yet she’s all smiles when she talks about bringing her kids to volunteer on Christmas the past five years.

Harrison doesn’t have much family to visit for Christmas, but going out into the community feels like home for her and her kids. Her two daughters and son have grown up volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul, and they’ve caught the service spark.

One year, when Harrison didn’t sign up for Thanksgiving volunteering in time, her oldest two insisted on cooking at home and standing at the shelter door, spooning out servings for anyone who missed the feast.

The most important day of the Harrisons’ year is about two things: gratitude and service.

“Not only does it make your whole year about service, but it gives you a heart of compassion for other people. [As a single mother] you’re looking at them like, ‘Wow, I could have been there,’” Harrison says.

Volunteer coordinator Nicky Shills has led Thanksgiving and Christmas volunteers for 21 holiday seasons, and she’s seen it all—from fistfights in the dining room to Kip Holden donning a hairnet and joining the serving line. But it’s the connections made between volunteers and guests over a Christmas meal that have stuck with her.

“Our guests, it’s somebody’s mom, dad, brother, sister, child,” Shills says. “I tell [the volunteers], ‘Talk to your guests. Hug them.’ They are our guests; I’m no better than they are. Everybody needs a hug. For some of these people, they might not have ever had a hug unless they came last year.”

When asked what new volunteers can expect from a Christmas shift at St. Vincent de Paul, Shills’ answer is instant: “Probably the greatest experience of their life.”

It may be hard to imagine giving up a traditional Christmas to volunteer at a shelter for the needy and homeless, but the Dorniers and Harrisons can’t imagine the holiday any other way.

“This is our normal Christmas,” Harrison says. “When we leave here, I give my kids a little Christmas party where they can eat whatever they want to eat, and that’s our Christmas. You want to make your own traditions in life.” 

If you’re interested in volunteering with or donating to St. Vincent de Paul, contact them at 383-7837 or svdpbr.com.

In their words

St. Vincent de Paul volunteers share what the organization means to them

“It’s the most fulfilling thing I can do. I’ve come to realize that there’s more to Christmas and to life itself than material things. The real gratification in life is going out and serving others.”
—Chris Wilson, a 68-year-old nurse who has wrapped gifts at St. Vincent de Paul every Christmas since relocating to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina

“It’s the people who’ve lost the most who serve. I know what it’s like to struggle, and I want to help people who are still fighting.”
—Ecca Tate, regular volunteer who packs brown bag lunches with her husband, Michael; the couple lost their home in Hurricane Katrina

“Christmas means so many things to me. [It’s about] the greatest gift that mankind has ever received—the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s a time for sharing, caring and giving. Sharing with others what you’ve been blessed with.”
—Debra Blacher, St. Vincent de Paul administrative assistant

“[First-time volunteers] will be so thankful. They’ll want to come back. They’ll want to bring their children. You get as much back as you give. By the end of the day, your face hurts from smiling so much.”
—Nicky Shills, St. Vincent de Paul volunteer coordinator

“The mood in the dining room on Christmas is so positive. You feel an energy here that is so uplifting. Just talking to some of the people we serve, you feel like you’re really making a new friend.”
—Lynley Dornier, longtime volunteer