For The Dialog
PERRYVILLE, Md. — Terry Denver figured church activities were a good way for a widowed grandmother like herself to make friends after moving to Cecil County in 2000.
The transplanted New Yorker learned of some of the local needs through members of Good Shepherd Parish, including Bill and Marilyn Pare. Soon she was helping with monthly luncheons for senior citizens hosted by parishioners of St. Agnes Church in Rising Sun, one of three churches that comprise Good Shepherd. She became immersed in efforts to meet the needs of struggling families.
“Outreach was a great choice for me,” Denver said recently. The diocesan council of parish-based St. Vincent de Paul Societies apparently agrees. Earlier this fall it presented Denver with the Frederic Ozanam Medal for outstanding service to the poor. The award is named for the founder of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which began in 1833 in France.
Even before she received the Ozanam Medal, Denver already felt she had received as much as she had given to others.
“My faith has been strengthened at a time when it was much needed,” she said. “It has helped me to realize more than ever that there is a need to help the less fortunate and to keep doing this for as long as I can physically do it. The thanks and appreciation we see day in and day out is certainly an inspiration to all of us who work at St. Vincent de Paul.”
Her efforts began when Bill Pare decided, after retiring in 2000, to renew the St. Agnes luncheons, which had been discontinued.
“Terry came up with a lot of good ideas, and spent lots of time cooking for the lunches,” he said.
The lunches on the third Thursday of each month draw nearly 80 people to St. Agnes’ hall; around 30 takeouts add to the number of people reached. The meals are free to senior citizens, but a good will offering is taken. Proceeds go to the food pantry.
About four years ago they learned of the needs of homeless people living around Marina Park in nearby Elkton.
“We all helped provide a homemade meal and went to the park to serve it,” Denver recalled.
Marilyn Pare, who heads the Good Shepherd St. Vincent de Paul Society, said Denver was a vital member of the group. “I don’t know how many trays of mashed potatoes Terry made during that time, because we were doing meals every week and volunteers were hard to find.”
The meals continue, indoors today, and other groups also help so the St. Vincent de Paul Society now provides two a month.
The society began supplying weekend packets for “food-challenged” students in local schools three years ago, Pare said. The packets are delivered to schools which dispense the food – individual containers of cereal, cans of pasta, granola bars, etc. – that provide nourishment over the weekend to supplement free or reduced cost meals at school.
Denver also works in the St. Vincent de Paul office, which has a food pantry and provides emergency services to families in need of housing and utility assistance. “Her thoughtfulness and kindness are unparalleled,” Pare said. She described Denver as a person who puts both fellow volunteers and those seeking assistance at ease, showing an interest in their lives.
While Denver had never participated in outreach ministry until moving to Cecil County, service to others never seemed far removed from her life. Her mother died when Denver was 10, “so I learned growing up to cook and care for our family. My father worked six days a week to care for me and my brother.”
Years later, after her husband retired, he volunteered at a weekly luncheon for those in need at their church. She was still working and unable to help, but was moved by his accounts. “Apparently, that was the inspiration that would ‘take’ in Cecil County,” she said.
That inspiration carries a family touch started by her late husband. In summers, he would take the couple’s children, and later a granddaughter, to help with the lunches. Last summer two of Denver’s grandchildren helped in the St. Vincent de Paul pantry while Denver worked as a volunteer in the office. She has four children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Denver’s efforts have lessened a bit. “I’m not the primary cook anymore, due to age and some disability,” she said. She is determined to continue serving others as long as she can.
“I have continued to do as much as I can for the family and my church family, who are the inspiration for the work at we all do at St. Vincent de Paul,” she said.
