Hingham Mothers Club Cooks for Rosie’s Place

Surrounded by boxes of lasagna noodles, tomato sauce and cheese, Liz Klein and Rebecca Nidositko are assembling five huge lasagnas at Nidositko’s house. In their own kitchens, Diana Dee and Amanda Joseph are also baking lasagna. The lasagnas, along with salad, rolls and a salad dressing donation from Tina Sherwood, were picked up on Tuesday morning and driven into the city.  It is time for the annual Hingham Mothers’ Club Lasagna Dinner at Rosie’s Place.

The fourth Tuesday of every January, Hingham Mothers Club makes enough lasagna, salad and rolls to feed the 150 poor and homeless women served by Rosie’s Place sanctuary for women in Boston. “These are women, just like us, who have fallen on hard times” says Nidositko. “It is an honor to provide a meal for them. “

The driving force behind the effort to bring meals to Rosie’s Place is a woman named Dottie Manganaro.  Manganaro has been volunteering for Rosie’s Place since 1976. Her “groups” as she calls them, have been delivering dinners to Rosie’s Place since 1978. Over the years, Dottie has collected enough volunteers to provide dinner to Rosie’s Place the fourth Tuesday of every month of the year. Hingham Mothers Club handles January. She has an individual who provides dinner the fourth Tuesday of December “do you know how close to Christmas that is?” marvels Manganaro.

In the past, Manganaro has volunteered in many capacities, from tutoring math to doing overnight shifts at Rosie’s Place. “What is most satisfying to me”, states Manganaro “is the number of people who are involved. Including children. The sixth graders at Hingham Middle School, through their Read Across America program, have provided substantial donations the past 5 years.”

Rosie’s Place offers both emergency and long-term assistance to women who have no other options. Founded in 1974 by Kip Tiernan, Rosie’s Place welcomes each guest with respect and unconditional love.  They provide many programs to their guests, including personal advocacy and an arts initiative. Rosie’s Place serves lunch and dinner seven days a week to approximately 150 women and children per meal.  It is also a food pantry that allows 1,250 women to take home 20-40 pounds of food per month. Rosie’s Place provides safe, dignified emergency overnight shelter for 20 women per night.

Any person interested in providing a monetary donation to Rosie’s Place is welcome to call Dottie Manganaro. “Every cent donated goes to buying food. We need more money to purchase groceries for the food pantry”, says Managanaro. Managanaro can be reached at 781-749-9685.

-By Cynthia Rosenfeld
Hingham Mothers Club