TREASURES OF CHRIST IN THE POOR A NEWSLETTER OF HOLY FAMILY SOUP KITCHEN AND FOOD PANTRY
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 SPRING 2018
HOLY FAMILY Beautiful Souls SOUP KITCHEN by Dana Michael Krull & FOOD PANTRY It has been a tremendous blessing to begin MISSION STATEMENT serving on the HFSK staff as the new full- time Food Pantry Coordinator. Across the TO FURTHER A CULTURE past month, I’ve had the great pleasure of OF LIFE IN COLUMBUS meeting and getting to know each of the BY FEEDING, CLOTHING, dynamic daily volunteer crews who give of HEALING AND VISITING themselves so faithfully and selflessly. I have been continually struck by their Christ-like joy in OUR NEIGHBORS IN THE serving our hundreds of guests each day and in assisting one another with the multitude of NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. large and small tasks that have to be accomplished in order for the Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, Medical Clinic, and Adoration Chapel ministries to succeed and thrive. On my first afternoon, I “For I was hungry, and texted Father Dailey to thank him for this job opportunity and to tell him that I had already you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you met many beautiful souls. I’ve found that there is nothing quite as lovely to behold as people gave me to drink; I giving of themselves to one another without any expectation of reward or anything in return. was a stranger, and It’s this kind of love which Jesus showed to all of us on Calvary, and which He invites us to you took me in. Naked, experience anew in Holy Mass, in uniting with Him in the Eucharist, and in serving others. and you covered me; HFSK’s needs can seem overwhelming when we look at them through our human sick, and you visited eyes. But through the lens of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we instead receive God’s gift of me; I was in prison, and you came to me. an opportunity to say to a mountain, “Get over there,” and watch in awe as it is moved by the Then shall the just power of the Holy Spirit. Although many beautiful human souls are involved in this incredibly answer him, saying: challenging ministry, it is God’s transformative nature which brings about so much good in the Lord, when did we see face of such darkness. The souls on staff at HFSK are equaled in beauty by the face of Christ in thee hungry, and feed the people whom they serve each day: the little children who need to know that they are loved, thee; thirsty, and gave the elderly who have suffered years of neglect and isolation, and the adults of all ages who are thee drink? Or when caught in the vicious cycles of addiction, poverty and homelessness, among many other issues. did we see thee sick or Some of these faces are scarred, tattooed, dirty, wrinkled, or weathered. Others at times seem in prison, and came to vacant, distant or sad. But you might be surprised to witness how many of them smile in spite thee? And the king of their circumstances. Given all of the relative comforts of my own life, I find this humbling. answering shall say to them: “Amen I say to As I’ve settled in, it has taken me a lot longer to meet the staff than anticipated; I had you, as long as you did thought, naively, that I would know every volunteer in the first week or two at most. However, it to one of these my each day there was a new team to meet, and each week there were more folks who showed up least brethren, you did to help. My current roster exceeds 100 people, and over 90% of them are volunteers: old it for me.” (Mt. 25:35-40) and young, they represent at least 18 parishes across the Diocese of Columbus, with many driving well over 30 minutes each way to give of their time. We also have many Protestant brothers and sisters in Christ who have been a part of this ministry for many years. Some of INSIDE THIS ISSUE: our current and former guests also help us on a daily or occasional basis. I’ve also met a joyful * Director Interview * atheist volunteer who gestured toward the dining room and said simply, “These folks need to eat,” as the reason he has served at HFSK for five years. All told, I’ve accounted for somewhere * Bio: Our Patron Saint * around a half a millennium of combined experience among the full-time and volunteer staff * Volunteer Thank-You * members. That is a staggering amount of service, and a reason to praise Almighty God!
* Typical Week at HFSK * As a son of the West Side with intimate personal ties to Franklinton, the Hilltop and the surrounding area, I have felt a visceral connection with many of the guests whom I’ve met * Ways You Can Help! * as I make the rounds through the building, or as I enter their (Continued on Page 5)
St. Martin de Porres, Patron Saint of Holy Family Soup Kitchen
St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579. Martin was the illegitimate son to a Spanish gentlemen and a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly Native American descent. At a young age, Martin's father abandoned him, his mother and his younger sister, leaving Martin to grow up in deep poverty. After spending just two years in primary school, Martin was placed with a barber/surgeon where he would learn to cut hair and the medical arts. As Martin grew older, he experienced a great deal of ridicule for being of mixed-race. In Peru, by law, all descendants of African or Indians were not allowed to become full members of religious orders. Martin, who spent long hours in prayer, found his only way into the community he longed for was to ask the Dominicans of Holy Rosary Priory in Lima to accept him as a volunteer who performed the most menial tasks in the monastery. In return, he would be allowed to wear the habit and live within the religious community. When Martin was 15, he asked for admission into the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received as a servant boy and eventually was moved up to the church officer in charge of distributing money to deserving poor. During his time in the Convent, Martin took on his old trades of barbering and healing. He also worked in the kitchen, did laundry and cleaned. After eight more years with the Holy Rosary, Martin was granted the privilege to take his vows as a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic by the prior Juan de Lorenzana who decided to disregard the law restricting Martin based on race. However, not all of the members in the Holy Rosary were as open-minded as Lorenzana; Martin was called horrible names and mocked for being illegitimate and descending from slaves. Martin grew to become a Dominican lay brother in 1603 at the age of 24. He was praised for his unconditional care of all people, regardless of race or wealth. He took care of everyone from the Spanish nobles to the African slaves. Martin didn't care if the person was diseased or dirty; he would welcome them into his own home. Martin's life reflected his great love for God and all of God's gifts. It is said he had many extraordinary abilities, including aerial flights, bilocation, instant cures, miraculous knowledge, spiritual knowledge and an excellent relationship with animals. Martin also founded an orphanage for abandoned children and slaves and is known for raising dowry for young girls in short amounts of time. By the time he died, he was widely known and accepted. Talks of his miracles in medicine and caring for the sick were everywhere. After his death, the miracles received when he was invoked in such greatness that when he was exhumed 25 years later, his body exhaled a splendid fragrance and he was still intact. St. Martin de Porres was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on October 29, 1837 and canonized by Pope John XXIII on May 6, 1962. He has become the patron saint of people of mixed race, innkeepers, barbers, public health workers and more. His feast day is November 3. Source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=306 ST. MARTIN DE PORRES, PRAY FOR US! An Interview With the Director: Brother Paul Martin Kennedy, O.P.
In between serving guests one day in April, Brother Paul Kennedy, O.P., answered these questions about his first 14 months as HFSK Director:
1) What has been your biggest challenge at the soup kitchen since taking the lead in 2017?
"Definitely the need to be in multiple places at once. There is a lot going on every day here, from the hot food line to the food pantry to the clinic, along with the constant phone calls and guests making requests in the office for mail or other assistance. Over time I've started to learn how to balance it all, but especially when we're short-staffed on volunteers, things can still get pretty crazy."
2) What is the best part of being the Director of this incredible ministry?
"Without a doubt: escaping from behind the desk and getting to know the people and developing a rapport with them over time. I love talking to them, learning their names and their stories, and engaging with them. These are fellow human beings, not numbers on a spreadsheet or a database. It can be hard to see brokenness all the time, but I am always trying to remember that these people are Jesus, and when we serve them, we are serving Him."
3) Tell us about a favorite moment or interaction during the past year.
"It's hard to point to just one. I can think of a number of people whose lives have literally been turned around by this ministry, and when they come to mind, those are probably the most encouraging moments. Part of this ministry also involves working with the whole family, and we serve a number of children and young people here at Holy Family Soup Kitchen. Seeing the joy in the children, in spite of their difficult circumstances, just puts a smile on your face. Over time, I've watched some of them grow up before my eyes. I'm sure that anyone who has kids or who has spent any amount of time working with children is well aware of how honest they can be at times -- they just call it like they see it. They're not at all afraid to ask questions, and I love being able to help them in any way I can.”
4) What are your vision and/or major goals for HFSK in 2018?
"We're in the process of really trying to analyze how we do things in order to streamline the process for our guests. We want their experience, as well as for our donors and volunteers, to be as seamless and efficient as possible. We also strive to make everyone who enters our doors to feel welcome and safe. That's a continuing goal of ours."
5) What is the most important thing for readers to know about HFSK?
"That spreading the word about where we are in Franklinton and what we do is essential to our success. We can't have people praying for us, or volunteering their time, or making donations if they don't even know about our location and mission. I would add that even the smallest act of kindness is a participation in Corporal Works of Mercy: even if you just give us plastic shopping bags, do it with a spirit of prayer. If you donate food, pray for the people who will receive it as you shop or collect it. Writing a check is very helpful and much appreciated, but it doesn't require a lot of effort; the harder and more fruitful path is to participate more fully in the work of this apostolate through prayer."
In addition to his ministry to Holy Family Soup Kitchen & Outreach, Brother Paul serves as a Dominican Cooperator Brother at St. Patrick Church in Downtown Columbus. You can contact him at [email protected]. THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS! Our volunteers don’t ask for a spotlight, and we don’t want to embarrass them: they serve for the right reasons. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t highlight the Diocese-wide and Community-wide effort of our team… So, below are volunteer highlights to give you a snapshot of the breadth of experience we are blessed to have:
Some of Our Many Volunteers’ Home Parishes and Churches: St. Agatha (Upper Arlington) St. Albans Episcopal (Bexley) St. Andrew (Upper Arlington) St. Brendan (Hilliard) St. Brigid (Dublin) St. Catherine (Bexley)
Students from St. Brendan’s Church in Hilliard serve with us nearly St. Cecilia (West Columbus) every Wednesday morning during the school year! St. Christopher (Grandview) Some of Our Recent Local School Partners... St. Joan of Arc (Powell) Saint Brendan (Hilliard) St. John’s Church (Columbus) Fisher Catholic (Lancaster) St. Margaret of Cortona (Hilltop / West Columbus) Olentangy Orange Middle School (Delaware) St. Mary (German Village) Our Lady of Peace (Clintonville) St. Michael (Worthington) Bishop Watterson (North Columbus) St. Patrick (Downtown Columbus) Some of Our Longest-Serving Volunteers! St. Paul (Westerville) Genny Temple *** — 33 years St. Timothy Marilyn Ransom — 25 years (North Central Columbus) Pat Hughes — 20 years Church of the Resurrection Larry Lorms — 20 years (New Albany) Ralph Locke — 20 years St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Jack Sharp — 19 years (Pickerington) Seba Cohen — 17 years Our Lady of Peace (Clintonville) Annie Carnes *** — 17 years Holy Family (Franklinton) ***Graduates of the original Holy Family School where …and others we may have the Soup Kitchen and Jubilee Museum are now located! missed...thank you to all!!! (Continued from Page 1) information into our database when they receive food pantry assistance. My mind turns to the well- dressed and articulate young woman who recently lost her job, forcing her to cash out her retirement plan in order to pay her bills and leaving no money for food. “I’ve never had to do this — this is the only time,” she told me, sheepish and embarrassed. “But this is what we’re here for,” I tried to reassure her, “so please don’t feel bad. A typical day in our dining room: full, or nearly full, from 10:30 a.m. until after 12 p.m. Instead, just feel thankful that it’s available!” There is also the young family of three who has endeared themselves to the entire staff: a kind couple and their sweet daughter who come in every day to get “woods bags” with take-away meals because they have no home. They are polite, patient, and grateful. I think of the older man who needs assistance with taking his blood pressure medication every day. He lives in squalor and has been forced to alternate between sleeping behind the soup kitchen and the parish center due to intimidation from other campers in the area. My heart breaks for the dozens of others who come to mind as I write this who are struggling with the bondage of addiction, the brokenness in their families, the plethora of bills that can’t be paid, and the many young mouths they are trying to feed amid the burdens and challenges of life, whether created by their own decisions or by those of their relatives. Yet my heart also thrills at the success stories I’ve already been told of first-hand, like the dear woman who excitedly shared how she used to be homeless and had to eat in our hot food line every day, but who now has housing and a new start in life. And the best part? She attributes it all to God. Are some of our guests “milking the system” by choosing a life of dependent poverty? Of course. But in my opinion (even though I’m still by far the newest of the “new guys”), those kinds of free-riders represent the minority. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised to see how relatively calm the social environment has been in the building. There are times when we ask guests to leave for safety reasons, and others when we are reviled or cussed out or threatened or any manner of other momentary afflictions. But whenever I’ve been irritated by a comment or some situation, I’ve tried to remind myself that I, too, am a broken, needy sinner. And I’m inspired by the volunteers who keep coming back to serve — many of them for 5, 10, 20, or even 30 years — because they see the face of Christ in our guests, even in the ones who are undeserving or ungrateful. Indeed, behind all of these faces are souls which are beautiful to God, and therefore to us, because they have been created in His image and He commands us to love and serve them just as He has done and continues to do for us. We look forward to the day when there is no more poverty: but until then, there is much work to be done, and we need your help!
We most urgently need prayers — we will accomplish nothing without the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lady, and all the Saints. Second, we need hands and feet to labor for the Gospel; this ministry requires many volunteers to give of their time. Even a couple hours a week in the Soup Kitchen or Food Pantry makes a great difference! Finally, we need dollars and other resources to help us provide food and supplies to our guests. We rely daily on the generosity of a multitude of organizations and individuals in order to make this happen. We know life is already busy and there are so many competing demands for your time, attention and money: but we are humbly asking for your help anyway because there are hundreds of our neighbors depending on us each day to feed them, clothe them, heal them, and give them hope in the face of darkness. Turn the page for a list of more specific items that we currently need, or other ways you can contribute. However you are able to give, we thank God for creating your beautiful soul and for using it for His own glory. Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter — even that is a simple act of service to the Lord. We ask for Him to bless you! ••• A TYPICAL DAY & WEEK IN THE LIFE OF HOLY FAMILY SOUP KITCHEN Daily Weekdays – 7:00 a.m. — Doors Open for Volunteers (Meal Preparation) 9:30 a.m. — Doors Open for Guests (Meal & Pantry Sign-ups) 10:00-10:30 a.m. & 11:30 – Noon — Mail & Special Requests 10:30 a.m. - Noon — Hot Food Line (Normally 250-300 Meals) 10:30 a.m.—11:30 a.m. — Food Pantry Support (25-30 Families) 12:15 p.m. — “Woods Bag” Meals Distributed to Homeless Guests 1:00 p.m. — Doors Closed (Daily Cleaning Begins ) Monday - Wednesday – Sister Maria (Parish Nurse) Bethlehem Clinic Wednesdays - Adoration (9:30-11:30 a.m.) & Rosary (10:30 a.m.) Thursdays – Mount Carmel Mobile Medical Unit (9:30 a.m. - Noon) Fridays – We try to send the maximum food with guests for the weekend...
The view from our front door...we’ve served the West Side of Columbus for 40 years! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY: Offer a decade or full rosary for HFSK. And when you think of St. Martin de Porres, please ask him to intercede for us!
DONATE TIME: Volunteer with DONATE GOODS: Here is a list of us — no amount of time is items we are always in need of… too small. Contact Dana at * Plastic shopping bags (we use [email protected] or hundreds of these every day...) 614.493.6827 to coordinate! * Perishable or non-perishable DONATE MONEY: Here is what your food (non-expired items please) dollars can provide for this ministry: * Gently-used clothing or house- 67 cents = Average cost of one hot hold items (call if you’re not sure) meal in our dining room * Hygiene items — soap, shampoo, $2.00 = Food Pantry Family Box razors, deodorant, tooth care, etc. (...yes, we can do it that cheap!) * Diapers, Wipes, and Formula $50.00 = Food Pantry for 25 Families (One-day sponsorship) $200.00 = One day of hot meals in SPREAD THE WORD: Follow us our dining room (300 guests) on Facebook at “Holy Family $250.00 = Food Pantry for 125 Soup Kitchen & Outreach” — Families (One-week sponsorship) then like and share updates! $300.00 = Exterminator Costs (This isn’t cheap, but it’s super-important!) GFS POINTS: When you shop at GFS, $500.00 = Industrial Floor Cleaner ask the cashier to give your reward Machine (This would help us so much points to Holy Family Soup Kitchen and in time and cleanliness...we need three we can buy more food on our next visit! sponsors at this level!)
Holy Family Soup Kitchen & Outreach & Kitchen Soup Family Holy “ at us Follow ”
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HOLY FAMILY SOUP KITCHEN
584 WEST BROAD STREET
COLUMBUS, OH 43215
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: “Beautiful Souls” Feature Article...An Interview with the Director… Biography of our Patron Saint…Volunteer Thank You...Typical Week at HFSK… Ways You Can Help