Editorial

Feeding Our Neighbors, 1.3 Million Times

Posted

Catholic Charities’ Feeding Our Neighbors campaign topped its lofty goal of providing 1 million meals to New Yorkers in need. And thanks to the efforts of Catholics across the archdiocese as well as a host of other partners, the annual initiative collected enough food to make 300,000 additional meals available to those coming to food pantries and soup kitchens, many in local parishes, for assistance.

Just before Thanksgiving, Bob Unanue, president of Goya Foods, got right into the spirit of things by making a corporate pledge for 300,000 pounds of food at Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Lower Manhattan where Cardinal Dolan and Catholic Charities staffers lifted bags and boxes full of Goya products.

The numbers continued to mount as the campaign officially got under way in late January. (The campaign is held at that time because donations to food pantries traditionally trail off after they are generously stocked for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Hunger takes no holidays, however, making Feeding Our Neighbors a vital necessity in helping to replenish pantry shelves.)

Another corporate entity, ShopRite, showed support at more than two dozen of its stores in the Hudson Valley region where food and cash donations for Feeding Our Neighbors were accepted at register checkouts.

Religiously affiliated agencies such as UJA Federation of New York and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies also lent their support to Feeding Our Neighbors, which marked its fourth year. UJA has been participating since the campaign’s second year and the Protestant federation came aboard this year.

New Yorkers know that the needs of the poor around them are very real. A staggering total of nearly 60,000 homeless people in New York City alone is just one measure of how far things have slipped for the neediest. Sky-rocketing rents leave many in the unenviable position of choosing between paying monthly housing costs and putting food on the table. Add stagnant wages and a higher cost of living to the equation and it’s not hard to see why many are increasingly forced to turn to Catholic Charities and agencies like it for assistance.

Fortunately, archdiocesan Catholic Charities is in a strong position to respond, thanks to generous assistance from parishes, Catholic schools, the archdiocesan Catechetical Office, the Office of Youth Ministry and Theology on Tap. And it’s not just the offices and officials, it’s parishioners, school and catechetical parents and students, and young people who are involved.

Catholic Charities, under Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, the executive director, deserves a lot of credit for laying out a successful vision that encourages participation and support from such a wide net of donors and facilitators. This year, the support extended all the way to archdiocesan headquarters at the New York Catholic Center where the various offices and agencies took up a floor-by-floor challenge. Every little bit helps.

In commending Catholic Charities, and by extension the thousands who helped it collect 1.3 million meals, we know the heart of Feeding Our Neighbors’ success is its ability to deliver a Gospel-driven response to real needs. It’s a simple formula, really, and the benefits extend to donors as well as recipients.