BengalNews Reporters
Thanksgiving is typically a time
for families to gather and eat a festive meal while enjoying each other’s
company.
For those that are less fortunate,
however, holiday meals aren’t always that easy to come by. On the West Side, with an abundance of
immigrants and families in need, this is commonplace.
Catholic Charities and many other
local organizations are lending their hands, determined to assure that nobody
goes hungry this holiday season.
“We provide constant service to
people who need it,” said Catholic Charities Communications and Public
Relations Coordinator Stephanie Hamm.
Sure enough, Catholic Charities provides
Thanksgiving meals for people in need. Hamm noted that as should be expected,
more people come during the holiday season.
“(The meals) can be delivered or
the families or persons can pick them up,” Hamm said.
Despite not having a pantry located
immediately on the West Side, Hamm noted that Catholic Charities has seen a
large increase in clientele from the West Side, refugees and immigrants in
particular.
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| D'Youvile's Anthony Spina sorts food donations |
“We collect food and it all goes to
West Side Ministries,” said Rev. Jan Mahle, Associate Campus Minister. “We have
collected and donated, in the past, 50 Thanksgiving boxes.”
In addition to sponsoring its own
food drives, Campus Ministries has teamed up with several local organizations
that are also committed to assisting those in need.
One of these organizations is
Friends of Night People, a non-profit soup kitchen located 394 Hudson St. Mahle
and Campus Ministries volunteer at the soup kitchen regularly.
“(Friends of Night People) serves
an evening meal every night,” Mahle said. “On average, they serve 200 meals.
Most of the persons who come to the soup kitchen are homeless, but there is a
growing percentage of those persons who are immigrants or refugees.”
Campus Ministries has also created
a working relationship with Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church, adjacent to
D’Youville.
D'Youville Campus Ministry's Rev. Jan Mahle talks on a message that she was told years ago:
“The church has a food pantry and whenever we have a collection our food goes there,” Mahle said. “Recently, we collected 28 boxes of food. They can be used for the Thanksgiving drive, and what isn’t appropriate for Thanksgiving we give to the Holy Angels food pantry.”
Mahle noted that everything Campus
Ministries collects is sorted by whether or not it’s perishable. For the
holiday season, they’ve put an emphasis on turkeys, canned goods and other
common holiday foods, though any and all donations are accepted.
“The things you take for granted,
someone else is praying for,” Mahle said. Edited by Chelsea Goodridge
