by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
OVERLAND PARK — The name of the food drive that was held in the parking lot of Fiorella’s Event Space here the morning of May 31 couldn’t have been more fitting.
Archbishop Shawn McKnight partnered with Catholic Charities for the “Fresh Start” food drive, where community members showed their support by donating 3,086 pounds of food valued at nearly $6,000.
The name signals both the fresh start the archdiocese is making with a new archbishop, but also highlights the need for fresh food items at Catholic Charities’ various food pantry locations.
“We were hoping to use some of the buzz around our new archbishop and certainly be advocates for him getting to know the people of the archdiocese,” said Lauren Solidum, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. “We are very grateful to have this opportunity to leverage his passion and support of Catholic Charities.”
Archbishop McKnight said he reached out to Catholic Charities in hopes of setting up an event to engage with the public that would help their mission, while also giving him an opportunity to meet people in the community.
“I asked Lauren to help come up with an activity where I could show my care for Catholic Charities and recognizing its importance,” he said. “It’s been great to meet people from a variety of parishes. I also got to meet a lot of the board members of Catholic Charities and of the foundation, so this has been a great way to get a quick introduction to people.”
The location of Fiorella’s Event Space was chosen for its centralized location in Johnson County, as well as the strong support for Catholic Charities of the family that owns the facility.
The event was held in the parking lot and set up as a drive-thru. Community members were able to drop off their donations before getting an opportunity to greet the archbishop one-on-one.
Catholic Charities has eight brick- and-mortar food pantry locations across the archdiocese. The food drive will go a long way in making sure they have enough fresh produce to keep each of them stocked.
“We wanted to tie in the theme of being ‘fresh’ because our archbishop is ‘fresh’ to the archdiocese,” Solidum said. “But most importantly, there are times where our food pantries lack fresh foods like produce, meat, eggs and dairy, and they’re really important to a healthy family. We want to prioritize making sure those foods are available to everybody.”
“We want to feed the hungry as the Bible states that we should,” added Catholic Charities’ chief program officer Amelia Reyes. “Our clients check in and can shop through the pantry and we are lucky to have fresh produce and meats in addition to canned goods. Then, we have volunteers that help them bag their groceries and get them into the car.
“Our food pantries are a huge resource for families in the community and we’re always looking to get fresh food in there. This is a fresh start for the archdiocese and a fresh start for our pantry to get filled up.”
Archbishop McKnight said it was important for him to get involved early and show his support for Catholic Charities to help those in need.
“Catholic Charities helps us globally as a church and locally as an archdiocese with being effective and efficient in our care and concern for those who are in need,” he said. “That’s part of our mission as a church and part of our obligation, so I want to draw more attention to that.”
In a time of a lot of change in the Catholic Church, both locally and globally, Solidum expressed her gratitude for those who came out to help their neighbors in this practical way.
“We’re very grateful to have this support,” Solidum said. “We’re just incredibly grateful to our archdiocese and our communities that continue to support the work of Catholic Charities.”
To view more photos from the Fresh Start Food Drive, follow us on Facebook.
