6 FROM PAGE ONE
THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS NOVEMBER 19, 2021
November 12, 2021 My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Since 1969, the Catholic Campaign for Human Devel- opment (CCHD) has addressed poverty by attacking its root causes and funding community projects that pro- mote independence as a means of finding a permanent end to poverty. Did you know that 38.1 million Ameri- cans live below the poverty line and more than 1.5 mil- lion children experience homelessness in a year? Many of these Americans are con- sidered "working poor"- they work but do not make enough money to cover essentials like housing, health care, child care, and food. That's why the CCHD theme is "Help Those on the Margins." This collection is the pri- mary source of funding for CCHD's anti-poverty grants and education programs. This year, seventy-five percent of the collection will stay here in our diocese. Today I am meeting with our parish and community groups which received 19 local grants from the 2020 campaign. It is always inspiring to see how these small seeds grow into fruitful programs to sup- port the dignity of people who find themselves most of- ten on the margins. During this pandemic, the need has increased dramatically in the many food pantries and emergency assistance programs which receive support from our local CCHD funds. Please help the efforts of CCHD to break the cycle of poverty. We are "working on the margins" in Central Massachusetts and across America. Support the CCHD Collection on November 20 & 21 as a response to the Fifth World Day of the Poor on November 14, as called for by our Holy Father, Pope Francis. For more information about CCHD and the scope of poverty in America, please visit www.povertyusa.org. With every prayerful best wish, I remain Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Reverend Robert J. McManus Bishop of Worcester
... Small seeds grow into fruitful programs ...
DINNER: Holiday meals
FROM PAGE ONE
BY TANYA CONNOR
THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
Buying a commercial refrigerator. Paying a family's rent. Helping with staff salaries or sup- plies. These are among ways local orga- nizations plan to use grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Devel- opment. Bishop McManus awarded 19 grants totaling $17,600 last Friday at St. Peter Parish's gym. The grants represented the local portion of the annual Catholic Campaign for Hu- man Development collection taken up in 2020. CCHD is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, working to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ. It began in 1969. The CCHD collection is taken up on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Some 75 percent of the local collec- tion will be used to fund grants for area programs next year. "While these grants seem small, I am always inspired by how they act like seeds which develop into great programs and services for the people they serve," said Bishop McManus. The largest local grant from the 2020 collection - $2,000 - will be used to buy a commercial refrigera- tor for St. Anne's Human Services Food Pantry, said Elaine LeBlanc, director of the human services pro- gram at St. Anne Parish in Shrews- bury. Any money left over from the grant will be used to buy gift cards to help people get items the pantry does not have, she said. "We thank the committee so much for that very generous donation," Mrs. LeBlanc said. "We are overwhelmed, and we're absolutely thrilled." The pantry has several refrigera- tors, but they are not designed for commercial use and frequently break down with the amount of use they get, Mrs. LeBlanc said. Commercial refrigerators are very expensive and Melinda Neis, food pantry manager, has been researching options in preparation for buying one. The pantry, which gets food from the Worcester Country Food Bank and local businesses, has more than 1,000 visits per month. The Marie Anne Center at St. Bernard Church at Our Lady of Providence Par- ish in Worcester got two $1,000 grants for its after-school and English-as-a- Second-Language programs. These are among programs the center has of- fered since opening 20 years ago, said director Sister Michele Jacques, a Sister of St. Anne. The grants can help pay the staff or go toward supplies, she said. She works full time and has four part-time staff. "The children who come here (to the after-school program) are either neighborhood children or immigrant children," Sister Michele said. They come Monday through Thursday and do homework or read. If there is time left, they can play. "We're serving the underprivileged - people on the margins," she said. One of the $800 grants will help pay rent for a family in need, said Dennis Featherstone, president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge. He said the Soci- ety has received a CCHD grant for the last five years. "A lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck," he said. Unexpected medical bills or car repairs can put them behind on paying rent. So, one way the St. Vincent de Paul Society helps them is by paying part of the rent directly to the landlords. It is usually better if tenants can stay in their present home rather than relo- cate, he said. Grants from the 2020 collection are as follows:
A $2,000 grant went to St. Anne's Human Services Food Pantry, St. Anne Parish, Shrewsbury. Eight $1,000 grants went to: Pernet Family Health Service, Worcester; Mentoring Program, St. Peter Parish, Worcester; Visitation House, Worcester, sponsored by St. Roch Parish, Oxford; Southbridge Senior Citizens Latino Program sponsored by St. John Paul II Parish, Southbridge; St. Peter Parish ESL Program, Worcester; Marie Anne Center After School Program, sponsored by Sisters of St. Anne, Worcester; Marie Anne Center ESL Program, Sisters of St. Anne, Worcester; St. Bernard's Gym sponsored by Our Lady of Providence Parish, Worcester. Seven $800 grants went to: St. James Outreach Group, South Grafton; St. Bernard's Food Pantry at Our Lady of Providence Parish, Worcester; Our Neighbor's Kitchen, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon; St. Anthony's Pantry at Sacred Heart Church sponsored by Sacred Heart - St. Catherine of Sweden Parish, Worcester; Keep People in Housing, St. Vincent de Paul at St. Mary Parish, Uxbridge; John 21 Community Breakfast at St. Patrick Parish, Whitinsville; St. Louis Multiply Services at St. Louis Parish, Webster. Three $500 grants went to: Wheels for Change, Catholic Charities in Southbridge; The Emergency Food Pantry at Catholic Charities in Milford; and Personal Essential Needs Services at Catholic Charities in Worcester.
the Sunday before Thanks- giving, Miss Sirois said. Messages must include the person's name, address, telephone number, number of meals needed and any special instructions. Meal delivery volunteers are to sign up on the web- site, www.ccworc.org/ bishopsdinnervolunteer/. On Thanksgiving they are to arrive at 10 Hammond St., Worcester, any time be- tween 8 and 10 a.m., to get their delivery routes and meals, drive-through style. Those willing to deliver more than the standard 11 meals, if there are more meal requests than usual, can indicate that on the website sign-up form. Fur- ther instructions are to be emailed to volunteers who sign up. Those wanting to help pay for the meals can do so through PayPal on the website ccworc.org/bish- ops-holiday-dinner/. Those interested in being event sponsors, like St. John's High School in Shrews- bury, Assumption College in Worcester, and many businesses, should email Miss Sirois at msirois@ ccworc.org. The Broadway in Worces- ter is doing all the cook- ing, Miss Sirois said. She said Catholic Charities pays The Broadway for the food, The Broadway also asks other companies for food donations. Table Talk Pies donates pies directly to Catholic Charities.
A LETTER FROM I BISHOP MCMANUS I
Local grants awarded to fight poverty
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What keeps him coming? "I like feeling that I'm helping people in the com- munity, and also I like that the delivery is so well or- ganized," he replies. "Each delivery volunteer gets a little pack of cards. Each card gives you the name of the person receiving the meal, their address and phone number and clear directions how to get to the house or apartment. The - places where you deliver are grouped together logi- cally." Meals are delivered in Worcester and surround- ing towns, and volunteers can request a route close to their home, he says. "One aspect of it that I enjoy - it's almost like a treasure hunt" trying to find the house or apart- ment, sometimes in areas he's never been in, he says. "Each card tells you how many meals to deliver to that house," he explains, and other information is also included, such as the primary language of recipi- ents. "Generally, the people are expecting the meal," so, even if they don't speak English, they understand what it is when the delivery person holds up the pack- age, says Mr. Brady, who speaks a little Spanish. "Before COVID, occasion- ally someone would invite me in" to sit and talk, he recalls. "Occasionally I've had people give me a candy cane or cookies." But usually it's a brief conversation at the door: "What are you doing for Thanksgiving, or Christ- mas?" "I have the impression that most of them are go- ing to be alone," though, some have family mem- bers living with them and therefore will not be totally by themselves, Mr. Brady
VOLUNTEER: Dinner recipients grateful someone cares for them
FROM PAGE ONE
says. But they don't appear to be sad. "Mostly they're smiling," he says. "I have a sense that the emotional part is the main thing"- the bishop and Catholic Chari- ties cared enough to reach out. "One or two meals over the year isn't going to make that much difference in a person's life but hav- ing the sense that some- one cares can." They say, "Thank you," often with a big smile. What does Mr. Brady get out of delivering the din- ners? "I enjoy my own Thanks- giving or Christmas meal more, knowing I've helped people in the morning," he replies. A couple years ago, Mr. Brady says, he began teach- ing a citizenship class for Catholic Charities. Since it was cancelled because of the coronavirus, he responded to an email request sent to Bishop's dinner deliverers asking for volunteers to help at Catholic Charities' food pantry at 10 Hammond St. in Worcester. He volunteered. While there, he was asked if he could help pick up food that Catholic Charities gets from Worcester County Food Bank at 474 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury. So, he does that weekly, and is again teaching the citizenship classes, which have been resumed via Zoom. At the food bank, Mr. Brady says, he and two oth- er people collect the food allotted to Catholic Chari- ties. There are cans and boxes of non-perishables, but also fresh vegetables and fruits - and meat in a walk-in freezer. "I dread going in there because it's below zero and has a fan blowing," Mr. Brady says. "We work fast." Once the eight carts are loaded with food, they're taken to the waiting U- Haul, where about six more volunteers join in packing the truck. After that, "typi- cally, everybody heads to 10 Hammond St. to un- load," Mr. Brady says. The whole process takes about four hours. "At the food pantry we have a variety of people from around the world who help out, including a Muslim man from Iran," Mr. Brady observes. "The people we serve, who come to pick up the food, are very diverse."
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