17th Consecutive year of holiday meal at Church of the Nativity – Dec. 5

Bethlehem, Pa., December 3, 2015—For the 17th consecutive year, Moravian College will host a holiday luncheon for residents of Bethlehem who might otherwise not be able to enjoy a seasonal meal. On Saturday, December 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Moravian College volunteers will provide a festive meal and fun activities at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, located on Bethlehem's south side.

The annual event provides a hot meal and small gifts for local families in collaboration with local community service organizations and is an example of the integral role that the College’s Center for Career and Civic Engagement plays in maintaining mutually-beneficial community partnerships. "Our annual community holiday meal provides an opportunity for the Moravian College community to give back to the Bethlehem community, learn about our neighbors, and continue the Moravian tradition of civic engagement,” said Gillian Smith Sharkey, director of civic engagement at Moravian College. “All those involved benefit as we demonstrate we are a community of caring and philanthropy that leaves a lasting impression of kindness with the families we serve."

For each of the last 16 years, more than 50 of Moravian College’s faculty members, staff, and students have volunteered to help serve a traditional holiday dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, cake, and pie. Moravian College continues its partnership with social services agencies to provide outreach to residents of Bethlehem that would benefit from some holiday spirit and a nutritious hot meal. Cathedral Church is providing the site and Moravian College is providing the food and volunteers for the lunch.

Tickets to the holiday luncheon are distributed to needy families in the community by New Bethany Ministries, Victory House, Trinity Episcopal Church, Fountain Hill School Family Center, Fowler Family Center, Turning Point, and Clearview Elementary School Family Center. The Cathedral Church of the Nativity is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at Wyandotte Street/Route 378 on south end of Hill-to-Hill Bridge in Sayre Hall.

Moravian College is a private coeducational liberal arts college, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For over 273 years, the Moravian College degree has been based on a liberal arts curriculum where literature, history, cultural values and global issues, ethics, and aesthetic expression and the social sciences are infused with multidisciplinary perspectives. Visit www.moravian.edu to learn more about how the Moravian College liberal arts curriculum prepares its students for life-long success.