Ancient Order of Hibernians Makes 12,400 Servings Of  Meat Loaf, Baked Chicken In Just Four Hours For Shut-Ins

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), an Irish-American Catholic fraternal organization, prepared 12,400 servings of meat loaf and baked chicken in just one Saturday morning last month at the Aid For Friends Frail Elderly Outreach Center on Townsend Road in Northeast Philadelphia.

Approximately 148 volunteer cooks from AOH divisions in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs took part in the event; all were members of either AOH, Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians or the Junior Division of AOH. The Junior Division is made up of youngsters, ages 8 to 18, many of whom received credit hours for community service as a result of their volunteer work at the cook-in.

The AOH members prepared full dinners at the event; the meat loaf was “plated up” with mashed potatoes and the baked chicken with macaroni and cheese. Peas were included with both entrees. 

Ed Dougherty, of Philadelphia, is chairman of the national Hibernian Hunger Project (as well as the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia County Hunger Projects); he says that the Hibernians run fundraisers throughout the year to pay for the annual cook-in for Aid For Friends.

“For example, on March 13, we ran an Irish stew cook-off at Finnegan’s Wake, an Irish restaurant in Northern Liberties,” says Mr. Dougherty. “That event alone brought in $1,350.”

Mr. Dougherty says the purpose of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America is “to honor the people of Ireland who survived The Great Hunger or those who were forced to flee Ireland to escape the starvation and disease.  It is our belief that no other people on earth have more awareness or empathy for those in need than Irish people.” [“The Great Hunger” is the newer, more historically accurate term for the Irish Potato Famine of the late 1840s.]

The Ancient Order of Hibernians has hundreds of divisions in this country; in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania suburbs, more than 3,000 Americans of Irish heritage are members of AOH. 

Aid For Friends is a grass roots charity, based in Northeast Philadelphia, that provides free, homecooked dinners, delivered by compassionate volunteer visitors, to needy and isolated shut-ins, primarily the frail elderly. The

interfaith organization is currently serving 2,113 homebound people throughout Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties; more than 16,600 individuals are active v

“The annual cook-in that AOH does for us is the single largest dinner-producing event we have,” explains Steven M. Schiavone, Esq., executive director of Aid For Friends. “It is so enormous that, even though it happens only once a year, it still puts AOH among the top organizational donors of meals, year after year after year.”