HANCOCK – For 36 years, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly has been doing its best to make sure every local elder has a good meal and a friendly place to eat on Easter.

The holiday dinners program has steadily grown since 1982. On Sunday, Little Brothers served about 1,200 Easter dinners to guests and volunteers at 12 locations throughout the Copper Country, according to LBFE program manager Carol Korpela.

“The holidays hold such fond memories, and we don’t want any friend to be spending their holiday alone,” she said. “That’s why we offer these.”

The whole thing depends on LBFE volunteers, Korpela said – about 400 of them on Sunday cooking, serving and delivering meals to elders who couldn’t make it to one of the dinners.

Hancock Church of the Resurrection dinner volunteers included veterans like Chef Ken Steiner and professor-turned-chocolatier Ezequiel Medici, along with several members of Michigan Tech’s TKE fraternity, which sends a crew annually.

“It’s my first year, but it’s a big tradition of ours,” said TKE Dustin Haxton, who imagines it can be lonely for older people who don’t have family around for the holiday.

“I think of my grandparents,” he added.

Phebe Vuorinen, a guest on Sunday, said it’s hard to pick the best part of a Little Brothers dinner.

“It’s fun seeing the people, maybe the food comes next,” she said. “You get to know more people over the years. You find out a maiden name, or someone is related to someone you know, or you have relatives from the same area sometimes.”