Efforts that use community organizing and/or dialogue with local and national officials to address the needs of people and/or creation.

"BREAD FOR THE WORLD" LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN

Many HNP ministries work with Bread for the World, a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. Many parishioners write brief personal letters (the most effective communication) and emails to their members of Congress, advocating for policies that help end hunger in the U.S. and around the world. This outpouring of concern sends a powerful message to our political leaders and helps us move closer to the goal of ending hunger. Ministries involved in these efforts include:

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Triangle, Va.
Contact: Fr. John O'Connor, OFM

Immaculate Conception Parish
Durham, N.C.
Contact: Lloyd Schmeidler

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
Contact: Trevor Thompson

St. Anthony of Padua Parish
Greenville, S.C.
In June 2011, the parish sent 150 letters to the three S.C. representatives, advocating on behalf of those who are hungry.
Contact: Ken Christy

St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
Contact: John Holden

Efforts that work to address the immediate needs of people and/or creation.

“MEALS ON WHEELS” ASSESSMENTS AND SUPPORT AT ST. FRANCIS COMMUNITY CENTER

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Long Beach Township, N.J.
“Meals on Wheels” is a program that provides quality, nutritious meals to people assessed as eligible for the service. The meals are cooked locally and then delivered to clients by volunteers. St. Francis Center provides “Meals on Wheels” assessments for those in need. A group of parish volunteers delivers meals come rain or shine to roughly 85 people who are homebound and live alone. They are often the only contact the clients have with others; the contact is often valued as much as the food they receive. The drivers also provide a very important service, notifying the community’s Senior Services Department when a client does not answer the door so one of the outreach workers can check to be sure that that client is well.
Contact:

“MEALS ON WHEELS” SUPPORT

St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
The ministry’s mission is to provide prepared food for two meals per day to elderly, handicapped, shut-ins and ill members of the community.  For information from the parish website, please click here.
Contact: Mary Elizabeth Anderson

BROWN BAG MINISTRY

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
The ministry  reaches out to those in need and feeds the hungry by preparing and distributing 100 brown bag lunches on the first and third Saturdays of the month to a low-income senior apartment complex in Durham.
Contact: Trevor Thompson

DINNER PREPARED DAILY FOR 15 WOMEN IN TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
This effort is part of the work of Catherine’s Place.
Contact: Trudi White, CVA

EMERGENCY SOUP KITCHEN

St. Mary of the Angels Parish
Anderson, S.C.
The Emergency Soup Kitchen provides a hot meal (noon) Monday through Friday and is closed on the weekends.
Contact: Nanette Perron, OFS

FEEDING LUNCH TO KIDS IN HAITI EVERY SCHOOL DAY

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
As part of its covenant relationship with St. Genevieve’s in Haiti, the parish provides money to feed lunch to 400 children each school day.
Contact: Fran D’Amico

FOOD DRIVES

Immaculate Conception Parish
Durham, N.C.
The parish supports food drives for agencies that serve the needy and provides transport for donations to local pantries.
Contact:  Maryann Crea

FOOD PANTRY SPONSORED BY CATHOLIC PARISH OUTREACH

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
The largest food pantry in the “Triangle” area (area in and around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C.), the Catholic Parish Outreach Food Pantry’s mission is to provide food (and clothing) to those in need in this region.
Contact: Nora Detterline

FOOD PANTRY

Holy Name of Jesus Parish – St. Gregory the Great
New York, N.Y. 
The Franciscan Community Center (FCC) Food Pantry provides nutritious shelf stable groceries to those in need each Monday from 1:00pm-4:00pm and is located on West 96th Street in the lower level of Holy Name Church.
Contacts: Christina Fermin, Director of Franciscan Community Center, or 212-932-8040

Milagros Ortega and Jason Garcia, Coordinators

FOOD PANTRY

St. Anthony of Padua Parish
Greenville, S.C. 
The St. Anthony Food Pantry gives out 500 bags of food every four days, and 28 family food boxes every month. Contact: Stephanie Rosso

FOOD PANTRY

St. Camillus Parish
Silver Spring, Md.
The aim of this ministry is to promote food security for members of the St. Camillus family and local residents. Food security is access to safe, adequate, sufficient, easy-to-use, and culturally-appropriate food at all times of the year. The parish operates two food pantries, one in the rectory basement and one in Langley Park, Md. which provide emergency food assistance to families in need. The Food Pantry Ministry has grown from serving approximately 100 families per year in 2002 to 5,500 families in 2010. This number is still increasing. For information from the parish website, please click here.
Contact: St. Camillus Food Pantry

FOOD PANTRY

St. Paul Parish
Wilmington, Del.
For many years, the parish has had a very active food pantry in place that serves approximately 50 families each week.  It also distributes turkeys and full Thanksgiving meals to over 200 families each year, and food and toys to over 200 families each Christmas.  
Contact: Miguel Gutierrez

HUMAN CONCERNS/FOOD PANTRY AT ST. FRANCIS COMMUNITY CENTER

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Long Beach Township, N.J.
Human Concerns is a homeless prevention program that assists clients with utility and housing issues.  To help those in need in the area, the parish and Community Center oversee a food pantry which accepts both food and monetary donations.  Each week, volunteers gather the food from the church and Center, sort and store the collected goods as well as whatever is secured from a regional food bank.  Then bags are prepared for distribution to clients.  Four days a week the Food Pantry is staffed by volunteers taking phone calls from people requesting food or assistance with heat or electricity costs among other needs.  The volunteers help clients who come in for food by giving them some of the prepared food bags as well as any available frozen or refrigerated food and much needed toiletries.                                                                                                                                       Contact:

HOUSE OF BREAD PARTNERSHIP

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church works in partnership with The House of Bread to deliver nutrition, housing, education and employment services to the poor. For more information from the parish’s website, clickhere.
Contact: Fr. Thomas Gallagher, OFM

KID’S CAFE

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
Through its efforts with House of Bread, the parish helps feed approx. 450 local kids a nutritious and balanced meal each evening.
Contact: House of Bread

MEALS FOR THE HOMELESS

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Triangle, Va.
Parishioners assist two shelters. The Action in the Community Through Service (ACTS) Hilda M. Barg Homeless Prevention Center is a 30-bed, short-term shelter helping homeless families and single adults develop individual plans that promote self-sufficient living. The parish volunteers at the Hilda Barg Shelter twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. The Bill Mehr Drop-In Shelter opened in 2002. Its purpose is to provide the chronically homeless a place where basic physical needs, such as food, showers, clothing, tents, blankets, etc. can be provided. St. Francis of Assisi Parish supports the drop-in shelter all year-round. Parishioners provide dinner from October through March and provide breakfast from April through September.
Contact: Francia Salguero

MEALS FOR THE HUNGRY

Immaculate Conception Parish
Durham, N.C.
Immaculate Conception parishioners prepare and serve one meal each month to hungry homeless brothers and sisters at the Community Kitchen of Urban Ministries of Durham.
Contact: Patrick Bohmer

MONTHLY NON-PERISHABLE FOOD/FROZEN DINNER COLLECTIONS

St. Bonaventure Parish
Paterson, N.J.
Parishioners contribute the food to the pantry at the Father English Center in Paterson, N.J. Frozen dinners are given out after all Masses on the third weekend of each month. Frozen dinner pick-up is the fourth Saturday of every month from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in front of the parish’s Bishop Manning Hall.
Contact: Fr. Daniel Grigassy, OFM

OUR DAILY BREAD

Catholic Center at University of Georgia
Athens, Ga.
The Catholic Center at the University of Georgia is a Support Congregation of Our Daily Bread Ministries. A variety of university-affiliated volunteers periodically plan menus, purchase groceries, prepare lunches and serve the guests at “Our Daily Bread,” the only soup kitchen in the immediate Athens area.
Contact: George Dougherty

PARISH FOOD COLLECTION FOR HOUSE OF BREAD

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
General collections to provide for the shelves at House of Bread.
Contact: Sr. Theresa Fonti, CSJ

PROVIDE MEALS TO THOSE EXPERIENCING POVERTY AND HOMELESSNESS

St. Francis Inn
Philadelphia, Pa.
The Inn staff provides nutritious meals to men, women and children in its dining room which is open seven days a week. The Inn continues its work thanks to the generosity of benefactors and volunteers who enable the organization to continue to feed its guests every day.
Contact: Fr. Michael Duffy, OFM – 215-423-5845

SANDWICH LINE

Holy Name of Jesus Parish – St. Gregory the Great
New York, N.Y. 
With help from the parish, the Franciscan Community Center provides nutritious boxed lunches consisting of a sandwich, beverage and snack every Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00am-1:00pm at the Franciscan Community Center,  214 West 97th St, N.Y., N.Y. 10025.
Contacts: Christina Fermin, Director of Franciscan Community Center, or 212-932-8040
Milagros Ortega and Jason Garcia, Coordinators

SANDWICH MINISTRY

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
Parishioners make sandwiches every day of the year to help feed those in the city who are hungry. For information from the parish’s website, click here.
Contact: Trudi White, CVA

ST. FRANCIS FEEDS

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
Volunteers prepare meals each month and serve them to those in the local community. One meal is served to the families of the children in a local after school program in the program’s facility. During the second meal, the doors of the facility are opened wide and all who come are fed.  To lean more about the effort, click here.
Contact: Donna Mariani

ST. FRANCIS HOUSE

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Triangle, Va.

In an effort to better serve the many needs of the low-income and disadvantaged families in the community, St. Francis House was established in 1992. St. Francis House is located in a rented townhouse within the Williamstown community of Prince William Country. St. Francis House provides emergency financial assistance for rent, utilities and medicine, as well as a food pantry, community resources referral program, family literacy program, and summer program.
Contact: Francia Salguero

INTERFAITH FOOD SHUTTLE

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
In the belief that hunger is unacceptable and can be alleviated, the Shuttle’s mission is to develop systems to recover, prepare and distribute wholesome and perishable food for those in the area who are poor, hungry, undernourished and homeless. 
Contact: Suzanne Szymendera

INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY NETWORK

Immaculate Conception Parish
Durham, N.C.
The parish is part of this network that provides emergency meals for homeless families at local Durham places of worship. 
Contact: Patricia Basta or Catherine Pleil

WAKE INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY NETWORK

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Raleigh, N.C.
As part of its mission to help homeless families achieve independent living, the community provides food to them in times of transition and need. For information from the parish website, click here.
Contact: Ron Smith

WEEKLY ECUMENICAL FOOD EFFORT

St. Mary of the Angels Parish
Anderson, S.C.
Anderson area churches provide and distribute bagged lunches on Saturdays to help those in need make it through the weekend when most area soup kitchens are closed.
Contact: Nanette Perron, OFS

OPERATION TURKEY

St. Francis of Assisi Parish
Triangle, Va.
In an effort to bring Thanksgiving turkeys to the tables of those in need, St. Francis of Assisi Parish joined forces with ACTS, an agency of  of Prince William Country, to provide turkeys to families in Eastern Prince William County.
Contact:  Francia Salguero

THANKSGIVING ACTIVE RESPONSE

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
The Men’s Fellowship of St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church collects turkeys and other items on the 2nd Sunday of November. Those items are used on Thanksgiving Day at both the House of Bread and the Sandwich Ministry. Parishioners also pack the bag lunches on Thanksgiving morning.
Contact: Pat Curtis

THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE

St. Bonaventure Parish
Paterson, N.J.
Sponsored by the St. Bonaventure Youth Ministry, parishioners are invited to donate non-perishables after all Masses the first few weeks in November.
Contact: Fr. Daniel Grigassy, OFM

WALK AGAINST HUNGER

St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish
Hartford, Conn.
Since 2003, the parish has participated annually in the Walk Against Hunger, both to raise awareness about the issue and to raise funds for its partner, The House of Bread. For information from the parish website about the yearly spring event, click here.
Contact: Trudi White

CROP HUNGER WALK

Immaculate Conception Parish
Durham, N.C.
CROP Hunger Walk is an annual fall event which combines fun and fundraising to raise money for hungry people throughout the world. Walkers invite friends to sponsor them with a contribution of $5, $10, $20 or more.
Contact: Mary Jane Wiethe