ST. ANTHONY DINING ROOM
Lending a Hand… with Open Arms

Maria Bacigalupo, "The Hugging Lady," shares a smile, conversation, and a warm embrace with guests each Wednesday in St. Anthony Dining Room.

Nicknamed “The Energizer Rabbit” and “The Hugging Lady,” volunteer Maria Bacigalupo weaves a radiant path through St. Anthony Dining Room each Wednesday.

After her husband died of cancer in 1992, Maria decided to move from Visalia back to her roots in San Francisco. “My friends asked me after David died, ‘What are you going to do?’” Maria, now 74, recalled. “I said, ‘Are you kidding? I can show up at any hospital or shelter and they can put me to work.’”

Compassion — the Best Medicine
Maria is one of hundreds of volunteers at St. Anthony’s who together give 160,000 hours of time each year. In addition to serving in the Dining Room, volunteers help register guests and clients to vote, teach tai chi to shelter residents, provide hospitality to seniors in the Living Room drop-in program, and share their gifts in many other ways.

Maria started volunteering at St. Anthony Dining Room about 5 years ago. “I just love some of the friends I’ve made down there,” she said. “One of the women who came in was always by herself. One day she looked so sad. She said, ‘I think the cancer has returned.’ What could I do but hug her? She was so much better just for that acknowledgment. After that, each time I saw her, I’d say, ‘Don’t worry — God’s with you. Trust.’ And I’d always give her a hug. I believe that you need 16 hugs a day: 4 for maintenance, 4 for survival, and 8 for growth!”

Maria and her brother were raised by a single mother during the Depression. She learned compassion early in life from her mother. “She was so kind and generous,” Maria said. “She would invite strangers in and feed them.” Her family spoke Spanish at home, which later helped Maria in her work as a volunteer for Catholic Social Services, accompanying Mexican farmworkers to government agencies. “You can’t let people be treated badly, just because they’re poor,” she said. “Sometimes the office workers would be so rude. I’d let them go so far, and then quietly I would assert myself.”

The Warmth of a Smile
“Here at St. Anthony’s, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that what they receive is respect,” Maria said. “I tell the young kids who volunteer here, ‘Smile! That’s what people need — warmth!’ It’s not pleasant to have to stand in line for food, but you have to live.

“I feel so lost when I don’t come down here — if I’m on vacation, when Wednesday comes around, I feel restless,” Maria said. “Most times the guests don’t realize how they cheer me up. I may be having a bad day because I miss my husband or my children. But then I think about how blessed I am — and then I have people in the Dining Room say to me how blessed they are. If someone down and out can say that, I should say that more emphatically. Every time I go there, I’m uplifted.”

Share your gifts with your homeless neighbors — be a St. Anthony volunteer. Call (415) 241-2600 or click here to learn more.

If you would like to be added to the St. Anthony Spirit newsletter mailing list, please call (415) 592-2738 or e-mail info@stanthonysf.org.

Top of page