Not long after sunrise on Saturday, May 16, 2020, volunteers at the St. Michael Parish Food Pantry in Wauchula started filling boxes with a variety of fresh, refrigerated and frozen food in preparation for a busy morning.
Vehicles were lined up by 7 a.m., about 30 minutes before the scheduled opening and less than two hours later more than 250 families (or about 1,000 people) had been helped.
Sister Maria Madre de le Alborada Quizhpe, Servant of the Lord the Virgin of Matara (SSVM), is in charge of the food pantry and does a weekly assessment of available food and must decide how much goes into each box based on the previous week’s number. In just a few weeks, the food pantry has handed out more than five times the pre-pandemic amount, a trend that shows no signs of ending soon.
On May 16, 2020 Bishop Frank J. Dewane saw firsthand the good work being done at St. Michael Parish. The Bishop did not hesitate to jump in to assist on the assembly line, packing boxes right where Sister Alborada most needed him.
The food pantry is restocked thanks to the direct assistance of two local food banks (Feeding Tampa Bay and All Faiths Food Bank), as well as through the support of local grocers and farmers, several Diocesan Parishes and resources are augmented by weekly bulk rice and bean deliveries from Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice Inc.
Each contribution is sorted by another group of volunteers earlier in the week to make the Saturday morning routine go smoothly. Everyone helping lives locally and knows about the need in the community.
The boxes move down the packing line at a breakneck pace as vehicles pull into the driveway, trucks or tailgates open, and boxes of food are loaded. Some vehicles pick up items for elderly neighbors or those without vehicles.
When Bishop Dewane finished his shift, he took time to thank everyone for their hard work. The Bishop remarked that he was also impressed by their dedication to come out each week to volunteer to do this hard work, not just for the Parish, but for the community as a whole. “Well done!”
Each vehicle coming through the line is surveyed to learn how many people are in the household and also to ensure that the families are using all of the offered food. Sister Gema Ruiz, SSVM, said that to a person, the food is much appreciated and needed.
“They say that whatever is not needed immediately is shared with elderly neighbors or other needy friends and family,” Sister Gema explained. “That is good to hear. We are pleased nothing is going to waste.”
Because the Parish is so far from the main food banks, the pantry must pay to retrieve most of the food, adding a tremendous expense. While necessary, this is beginning to impact the other assistance programs, Sister Gema explained. The Parish offers emergency financial support for unexpected expenses, an area where demand is also beginning to increase.
Sister Alborada explained that the impact of the food pantry on the community cannot be underestimated. The food provided to families, many with several children, gives them one less expense they need to worry about when money is tight. “They have children to feed, but they also have other bills to pay. We help to ensure they don’t need to make a choice between their children and some other expense.”
If you would like to help the St. Michael Parish food pantry, you can send money to St Michael Parish, c/o Food Pantry, 408 Heard Bridge Road, Wauchula, FL 33873, or call 863-773-4089. The Diocese of Venice is also providing an online platform. Please visit https://dioceseofvenice.org/ways-to-give/parish-donations-online/ and select St. Michael Parish in the drop-down box (please disable your pop-up blockers).
Out of concern for the safety of all involved, our Pastors have been asked to follow established directives and guidelines. These limit the size of the congregation to 25% of occupancy, maintain social distancing guidance, and ask the Faithful’s cooperation to wear facemasks and bring with them hand sanitizer for their use. The Faithful are also asked to receive communion in the hand. These are extraordinary times and I ask for your patience and good will as Parishes reopen for public celebrations. Further, schedules may need to be adjusted and some Priests or liturgical ministers may not be able to participate publicly because of age or health conditions.
The Spanish-language Catholic community has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic having endured massive layoffs across many job sectors including food service, hotels, farming and landscaping. The small food pantry has been assisting about 100 households weekly for the past seven weeks, where households consist of five to nine individuals.
On Tuesday mornings, the line for food begins to form long before the pantry opens. Each person with a heartbreaking story of unexpected hardship and worry about their small children. A few of those children were old enough to help carry the bags of food back to their vehicles while their mother or father carried their own heavy burdens with stoic resolve.
It is an unthinkable thing for the hard-working faithful of Jesus the Worker to ask for food, Father O’Connor explained. “Sometimes it is embarrassing or humiliating for them to come looking for assistance.” In such cases, he invites families to return at a different time when no one will see them.
The Bishop added that he understood and appreciated the extra effort required by the priests and Parishes to facilitate the opening, but “because the Faithful are hungry for a return to the Church and for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, this desire is worthy of the extra effort.” It is expected this first phase will allow for a growing reassurance by the Faithful that it will be safe to return for Mass once it is possible to do so.
Naturally concerned about the health and well-being of all, Bishop Dewane said his focus is also on the spiritual health of the Faithful. “I am confident that these visits will yield abundant spiritual fruit in personal holiness and the communion of our Parishes. This will eventually lead to being able to offer the access to all of the life-giving Sacraments in the near future.”
Visitors for private prayer at Epiphany Cathedral in Venice are greeted in the narthex and shown a seating chart for the Church. The faithful selects the spot from where they wish to pray and given a number that corresponds to that spot. A volunteer escort is provided as a guide. Upon leaving the Church, through a different door, the faithful are asked to drop their number off in a basket. The Parish cleaning staff later uses those numbers as guidance for deeper cleaning. This system works well as only between 20 and 50 people are coming for prayer throughout each day.
The Parish Hall is where donated food is stored and bagged in preparation for distribution into the community to the growing number of needy families who would normally be in the fields as migrant farm workers. The food is mostly courtesy of Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice Inc., as well as from St. Leo the Great Parish in Bonita Springs. Donations from the parishioners of St. Margaret are also a big help.
Most of the recipients wanted to give hugs to Paniagua and Sister Mercedes but, while wearing a mask and gloves, they explained that the smiling faces and words of gratitude offered were enough thanks.
He came to the United States and the Diocese of Venice in 1994. He was 69 at the time. He served as Pastor of St. Margaret Parish in Clewiston before being transferred for the final time in his long ministry to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Immokalee. There he celebrated Mass is English, Spanish and Creole, while also celebrating Mass for the Portuguese-language Catholic community each weekend in Fort Myers.
During a Mass marking the occasion of his 65th anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood, Father Benacchio estimated he had celebrated Mass more than 25,000 times. “But celebrating Mass today, after so many years, still feels like it is the first time… It is what I do, what I always do and what I will always do. It is at the heart of what a priest is all about, that moment when you are closest to Jesus Christ.”
Ellen Staubach, a Food Pantry Board member, said an appeal in mid-March helped fill in the gap for the immediate increase in demand once the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy started being felt. Since early March, demand has steadily increased as many people were thrown out of work. Before the pandemic, 1,888 individuals and families visited the food pantry each month. In the past seven weeks, nearly 500 new individuals and families have registered for assistance.
