PROVIDENCE – Hundreds of marchers united in solidarity with those less fortunate gathered last Friday morning for a State House rally held at the conclusion of the 33rd annual Good Friday Walk for Hunger and Homelessness.
Walkers of all ages representing many faith communities, some pushing baby strollers or walking dogs, set out earlier from various locations in Greater Providence not only to raise funds for programs that benefit those in need, but also to heighten awareness of the growing problems of hunger and homelessness in the Ocean State and throughout the world.
According to a recent Rhode Island Community Food Bank newsletter, almost 59,000 Rhode Islanders seek help at emergency food panties each month – a 60 percent increase since 2007.
“What a meaningful day to do this,” said Mercy Sister Mary Reilly, one of the organizers of the first walk held 33 years ago. She recalled that the march was planned for Good Friday to allow participants to enter into Christ’s suffering and the misery suffered by those less fortunate across the globe.
While the Good Friday Walk benefits local ministries including Amos House, Mary’s House at St. Patrick Church, the Hmong Ministry at St. Michael Church—all in Providence—and St. Vincent de Paul societies throughout the diocese, the annual event also helps support international programs with local connections in Haiti, Central America and Africa, such as the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Primary School in the Congo.
Lorraine Burns, vice president of the board of directors of the Good Friday Walk and coordinator of the St. Teresa-Blessed Sacrament Food Pantry, Providence, said that the event gives walkers an opportunity to make a small sacrifice in gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made on behalf of mankind.
“You don’t have to look far in Providence to see the need,” she lamented. “Just open your eyes. Hunger, poverty and homelessness are everywhere.”
Alexander Vega, a parishioner of St. Francis Xavier Church, East Providence, and a student at East Providence High School, marched to the State House with an ecumenical group from the Haven United Methodist Church in East Providence.
“It’s the tenth time I’ve done it,” he recalled. “I do it to help the hungry and the homeless. We need to appreciate what we have.”
Kristen Soucie, service coordinator at St. Francis de Sales Parish, North Kingstown, organized a group of 20 confirmation candidates, parents and parishioners who marched from Blessed Sacrament Church through the streets of Providence to the State House.
“It gets the kids out to see the people that need the help,” she observed. “It gives them a different perspective. They got to see that there are a lot of people in Rhode Island who care about the homeless and hungry.”
Soucie recalled that a recent confirmation service project St. Teresa-Blessed Sacrament Food Pantry opened the students’ eyes to the realities of living in the inner city.
“It’s more than just collecting cans,” she emphasized, noting that the religious education students were surprised to see young people their own age standing in line to get food.
“It puts the ‘do’ in the Lenten mission,” she concluded.
Father Paul R. Lemon, pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, West Warwick, accompanied a group of parishioners that included confirmation candidates who walked as part of a service project.
“We stress that there are people less fortunate than ourselves, and because Christ walked for others, we walk for others,” he said.
Father Lemon highlighted the importance of the walk being held during the Easter Triduum and noted that the event corresponded with the theme of Our Lady of Good Counsel’s Lenten mission: “Journey of the Heart.”
“Easter is the heart of the journey,” he emphasized.
Melissa Andrews, a member of the Edgewood Congregational Church, Cranston, was part of a large group that marched from that church.
“We want to help end hunger,” she said. “It’s a serious problem.”
