A group of boys and girls preparing for a mission trip to an orphanage in Jamaica will hold a pasta dinner fund-raiser in Barrington on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event is open to the public.

The missionaries are from St. Luke Church in Barrington and are hoping for a large turnout to the dinner. Money from the event will help off-set costs to travel to the Blessed Assurance orphanage located outside Montego Bay in Jamaica.

A donation at the door will go a long way in helping the local teenagers as they offer assistance to the orphans — many are disabled and in need of basic assistance like bathing and feeding — and help make repairs and improvements to the orphanage. On a recent trip, some missionaries built new concrete walkways.

Once the missionaries arrive in Jamaica they will face long days of hard work. A typical day starts with a 5:30 wake-up. Then it is on to cook breakfast, eat, and prepare for an 8 a.m. prayer devotion. The missionaries then feed the orphans or go to work on a construction project. That work continues until a lunch break, more work or time with the orphans, a cold shower, dinner and then nightly reflection.

“Every kid just wanted to be held,” said Russell Allen, who attended last year's mission trip.

“These kids don’t have anything, but they’re still happy,” said Mary Correia, a student who went on two trips.

The dinner will include pasta with red sauce, meatballs, salad, cake and more. It will be held at the St. Luke School gymnasium, which is located behind the church.

Father Bob Hawkins mentioned the pasta dinner fund-raiser during a recent Sunday Mass at St. Luke's and encouraged people to attend the event. He also promised that the dinner would be over in time for the 8:15 p.m. kick-off for the New England Patriots playoff game on Saturday.