SMITHFIELD — Parishes throughout the diocese operate food pantries, soup kitchens and nutritional programs to feed the poor and hungry.
Most of the 75 sites, from St. Charles Borromeo Church in Woonsocket to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Coventry, depend on the generosity of parishioners to provide the boxes, bottles and cans of food as well as household goods and toiletries that assist hundreds of Rhode Island residents. But this year, the operations will receive a financial boost from a familiar supporter, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who has announced that the proceeds from the 2014 Lumen Gentium Awards dinner ticket sales will benefit each one of them.
Proceeds from last year’s dinner, which raised $50,000, were used to fund operations at Emmanuel House. The donation made it possible for the South Providence diocesan men’s homeless shelter to remain open through the summer, a season when it has closed in the past.
The Lumen Gentium Awards recognize those who have provided outstanding service to their parish, the diocese and/or the local community at-large. A committee, under the leadership of Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, diocesan Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia, welcomes nominees through an online process on the Diocese of Providence Web site at www.dioceseofprovidence.org/lumen-gentium-2014.
The process to nominate individuals for this year’s award has been extended. Nominations, which must be received by Friday, February 21, will be reviewed by the committee, with final recommendations submitted to Bishop Tobin for his approval.
The Lumen Gentium Awards, are presented in 10 categories: Parish Service, Community Service and Charitable Outreach, Catholic Education, Evangelization, Communications, Administration and Stewardship, Respect Life, Public Service, Distinguished Catholic Youth and Friend of the Diocese.
Groups, organizations and individuals — laity, clergy and religious — are eligible to be nominated.
While it is expected that nominees will come from within the Catholic community, other nominees will also be considered, provided that they and their work are consistent with the teachings and mission of the Catholic Church.
The donation of the proceeds from the Lumen Gentium Awards dinner is welcome and needed at volunteer run food pantries like that at St. Michael Church in the Georgiaville section of Smithfield, where Father Richard Valentine serves as pastor.
Paul McIntosh has stocked the shelves at St. Michael Church Food Closet for 15 years. He has a routine: he attends the 8 a.m. daily Mass and then he stops by the food closet afterward on Mondays in the church hall to stack new contributions and keep track of the supplies. The parish Social Justice Committee runs the food closet.
“It is all from donations from the parish and if we need to buy anything we do,” McIntosh said while maintaining the neatly stacked shelves that are labelled to keep everything in order.
Cans of soups, vegetables, tuna fish and meat; boxes of cereals, pasta, rice and cake mix; packages of noodles; spices; spaghetti sauce and paper goods and toiletries are organized and ready for the one Saturday a month that the closet is open. Plastic bins are set at the front and rear entrances to the church for parishioners to drop off non-perishable goods on their way to mass. On weekdays food donations are accepted at the rectory, which adjoins the church and the parish hall.
“We serve parishioners in need and the people of Smithfield; they must provide a photo ID or proof of residence. We just don’t have enough to serve people from other towns,” he said. “There are a lot of people in need, but sometimes they are too ashamed to come in. Maybe they have always had a job and worked and now they need help. They should just come in if they are in need. We can help.”
The closet serves from 25 to 30 families per month. The limits are 25 items per person with a limit of one item each for sugar, coffee, cereal or oatmeal, peanut butter, canned meat, stew, tuna, cookies, crackers and juice.
“A lot of people say this carries them over, it is a supplement to what they can buy,” McIntosh said. “We have a lot of working poor. Last Saturday several people had to work at their jobs to make up for the snow day and they couldn’t get here to pick up food.”
One of the soup kitchens that will receive support from the Lumen Gentium banquet is the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen, located at St. Joseph Church in Pawtucket, which is part of Holy Family parish, a consolidation of St. Joseph, Our Lady of Consolation and Sacred Heart Churches. Father Robert Perron serves there as pastor.
The soup kitchen, a private, non-profit corporation, leases space in the church hall in the basement at St. Joseph Church and feeds hot meals to about 100 people a day Monday through Saturday at dinner from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and breakfast every day and Saturday at 10 a.m., according to the parish Website.
The parish also operates a food pantry in the church basement on two Tuesday mornings per month. Families and individuals select canned and boxed foods to take home. Specific dates are available by calling the church office, 724-9190.
Adrienne Marchetti runs the soup kitchen with the help of volunteers from local businesses, the parish and neighboring St. Raphael Academy. She said that Bishop Tobin is a supporter and friend of the soup kitchen.
“Bishop Tobin is very kind to us and has provided funds to us out of his discretionary account,” Marchetti said. “He gave us money last Christmas to buy presents for our people and then he came here to hand out the presents. We can’t thank him enough for his support and his kindness to our people. He may be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but we can overlook that because he is so generous to us,” she joked.
James Jahnz, coordinator of Emergency Services for the diocese, said that through the proceeds of last year’s dinner, the diocese was able to extend the good work being done at Emmanuel House, and looks forward to being able to build on that this year by assisting food pantries and soup kitchens across the diocese.
“The resources provided a critical safety net for the homeless of Rhode Island last year,” said James Jahnz. “Without the assistance it received last year, Emmanuel House most definitely would have had to close last spring.”
This year’s Lumen Gentium Awards will be held May 14 at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln to accommodate a larger crowd. The tickets are in great demand and the good work funded by the proceeds is critically needed by the beneficiaries.
