January 11, 2018
Aunt Dot’s Mysterious Name Revealed
Aunt Dot’s Place is a food shelf that supplies food to folks in Essex, Essex Junction, Underhill, Jericho, and Westford. But, have you ever wondered where the name “Aunt Dot’s Place” came from? According to Andrea Fracalangia, President of Aunt Dot’s Place, the name was suggested by Josh and Connie McDonald. Both of them were inspired by Dorothy Day, a social activist, and both had an Aunt Dot in their family. The idea was that the name Aunt Dot, would give a friendly feel, the sense that this was a community place focused on helping each other, the way family members care and help one another.
So who was Dorothy Day? Dorothy Day was born in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. She embraced social activism, lived a wild lifestyle, and flirted with communism. Her life changed dramatically when she converted to Catholicism in mid-life, but not her activism. She helped found a Catholic organization that focused on direct aid to the poor and social activism. She once said “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us.”