Holiday meals to brighten spirits at homeless shelter

By Globe Staff

The Pine Street Inn homeless shelter is gearing up this morning for a Christmas Eve lunch that's intended to warm the stomachs -- and hearts -- of those who are out on the streets during this holiday season.

The shelter will serve 400 meals today on tables set with linens and china. The menu includes tomato rice soup, beef stew, buttered noodles, and green beans. Another 1,350 people will partake in another lunch tomorrow.

More than 150 volunteers will help decorate the dining room and prepare and serve the meals over the course of two days, shelter officials said.

"This is a very difficult time of year for the guests that we serve," said Nancy Sandman, development director at the shelter. The holiday season meals are "an opportunity to celebrate, bring them together, do something that's extra special. ... It's a very unique way to say that the community cares."

The homeless will also get a special visit this morning from two major church leaders. Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, and the Right. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts, will visit with the guests.

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