WHITESTONE — Faith, friendship, and fun draw seniors together every week at St. Luke’s Church in Queens, where the Golden Age Club thrives under the leadership of parishioner Raquel Lombardozzi.

The parish hall fills each week with the sounds of friendly competition as members play games such as Rummikub.

For the seniors, however, the gatherings are about far more than winning. They provide a chance to find friendship, swap stories, compare doctors’ recommendations, and support one another through life’s challenges.

Lombardozzi, the club’s president, started the group a few years ago after noticing that many older parishioners — especially those who had lost a spouse — needed a reason to get out of the house and remain connected to their parish family.

“It’s a social,” Lombardozzi said. “Most of them first go to Mass then they come down here and we get to meet other people in the neighborhood. To get them to come back to the church because that’s a good thing — we pray, we get to know each other, we help each other.”

She knows the importance of that support firsthand: when she was diagnosed with cancer, she said her faith and the prayers of those around her helped carry her through.

“It was difficult but the thing that helped me tremendously is my faith and a lot of prayer, a lot of coming to church,” she told The Tablet.

She is the reason St. Luke’s celebrated a special Mass for cancer patients and survivors, an event she hopes will become annual.

When she is not running the Golden Age Club, Lombardozzi serves as a Eucharistic minister. She visits nursing homes to distribute Communion and, more recently, has begun taking the altar linens home to wash, iron and fold.

Father John Costello, pastor of St. Luke’s, praised her energy and efforts to include everyone. “She’s feisty,” Father Costello said, laughing. “She’s got a lot of energy. When the music starts, she’s the first one on the dance floor — of course she’ll try to get the priest on the dance floor. I try to hold back as much as I can, but she wants to get everyone involved. She wants to keep everyone happy about what’s happening.”

The club she founded shows that a church is more than a place to worship. It is where friendships form, laughter is shared, and no one has to grow older alone.

Lombardozzi said she has been blessed. She grew up very poor but always worked hard, and she is thankful for her life in Whitestone with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

“I personally have a lot to be thankful for, and so this is a little bit of my giving back … to what I have received,” she said.