‘It’s a human need to feel love’: Boise Phil plays music for homeless at Harvest Dinner

The first Thursday of November is often a special dining experience at the St. Vincent de Paul dining hall on Overland Road.

The scene this Thursday, however, was different. It included a soundtrack.

The Boise Phil, Astegos and St. Vincent de Paul combined forces to hold a “Harvest Dinner” for the homeless and needy.

The dinners are not new for St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic charity. What was different this year was the addition of Astegos, the Boise Phil and a particularly festive spirit. Chase Bank also helped sponsor the event.

Astegos is an organization established in February 2017 to help “get families off the street” through outreach, according to executive director Tim Flaherty.

Astegos works hand-in-hand with St. Vincent de Paul, which focuses on homelessness prevention. The two organizations combine resources to help provide a meal four days a week to families, in addition to other services, such as counseling.

The St. Vincent de Paul dining hall serves more than 1,000 families a month, said Ralph May, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Southwest Idaho.

“Getting nonprofits to partner together is something that I think the entire community wants to see,” Flaherty said. “You have to call attention to things like poverty in our town. Because we, as a community, are so fortunate ... but it does exist here ... And I think that’s what the Boise Philharmonic is doing.”

A quartet from Boise’s Youth Philharmonic was able to share its passion with those who might not otherwise hear it.

“We love music,” said Anthony Luo, a senior at Boise High School. “We want them to love it as well.”

The gesture was not unnoticed by those eating at the surrounding tables.

Louis, who did not want his last name disclosed, sat at a table with his wife and two children. He works as a bus driver, he said, and tries to eat every meal during the winter at St. Vincent de Paul.

“I grew up in a classical music household, so this awesome,” he said. “(These resources have) helped my family out tremendously. From what I understand, this is one of the few communities that does this.”

The scene meant a great deal to May, too.

“That is more valuable, maybe, than we can possibly realize,” May said. “It’s a human need to feel love, to feel appreciated ... and I think that they are no different than anybody else.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2018 at 8:48 AM.