Peggy Burns
Peggy Burns - Volunteer of the Month
Peggy Burns has dedicated her entire life to helping others. With over twenty years of service at the Friday Night Supper Program, Peggy is our longest serving current volunteer and a great friend to our guests. Over the years, Peggy has performed every volunteer position involved in delivering our dinner service, including clean up, washing dishes and preparing meals. But today she leaves those jobs to younger volunteers and can be found serving coffee and juice to guests as they arrive. From her post, she welcomes everyone, catches up on their lives and takes an earnest interest in people who often have few people who care about them.
Peggy's commitment and kindness is expressed in other ways too. She always says a prayer with guests before our dinner is served. She donated funds recently to replace our aging coffee machine. And in 2017, she returned to serve on our Board of Directors for the third time! As an active board member through the years, Peggy has helped steer FNSP through many transitions, tough budget times and big capital projects.
Peggy began her life of service as a Catholic nun in 1967. Almost two decades later, she left that role and has continued to make a meaningful contribution to a better world through her work with Dignity Boston. Dignity Boston is the Boston chapter of Dignity USA, a national organization of Catholics formed in 1972 to provide support for the LGBTQ community. Peggy is deeply committed to the mission of Dignity Boston, which is what originally brought her to FNSP. Dignity Boston co-founded FNSP with the Arlington Street Church in 1984 and has supported our work since then.
Peggy takes great pride in being one of the many Dignity Boston community members to have passed through the doors at FNSP to help. "I feel blessed when I see the guests each week. Most of them are so grateful to see us. That's what keeps me coming".
Many of the guests at FNSP have been coming every week for over a decade. They view FNSP as "a place of their own". Peggy's compassion creates an atmosphere of familiarity and friendship for our dinner guests and, together with our other amazing regular volunteers, a consistent lifeline for vulnerable people. We are deeply grateful for her support. And clearly, the feeling is mutual. "The regular volunteers at Friday Night Supper are so amazing. It's a joy for me to come there to work every week".