Cedar Lake restaurant delivers donated gourmet food kits to diocesan schools staffs
Catholic school staff may not have noticed the delivery van and the restaurant crew that stopped by their buildings on Feb. 24-25 to make special deliveries, because they were busy tending to students and school affairs. But the gifts of gourmet dinners were a special treat for the dedicated professionals that serve the students and families of Catholic schools across the Diocese of Gary.
“Though it is impossible to capture our gratitude and appreciation fully, we want(ed) to do something to show our support and let schools know they are in our thoughts and prayers, and we are in their corner,” said Gisele Jones, Big Shoulder Fund’s director of community partnerships and engagement for Northwest Indiana.
Caterers and chefs from the Lighthouse Restaurant stocked 18 schools each with their share of nearly 600 gourmet meal bags. Later, staff members gleefully grabbed a bag filled with a three-course gourmet meal ready for the dinner table.
“This one is actually for my wife and I,” said Michael Skinner, who stopped by St. Mary Catholic Community School of Crown Point to pick up a food kit.
He said his spouse Mary Catharine Skinner, a St. Mary junior high science teacher, is home on maternity leave, caring for the couple’s three-month-old son, Oliver. “Mary loves this school, and she misses being back.
“Especially with a newborn, it’s tough sometimes to have the time to make a nice meal,” Michael Skinner said. “This is going to definitely be a top-notch meal.”
The complimentary take-home dinners were purchased for Catholic schools faculty and support staffs by Chicago-based philanthropists Rita J. Canning and John A. Canning, Jr. in cooperation with the Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana Initiative. BSF launched a major, multi-year financial commitment to diocesan schools in 2019.
Dana Hernandez, director of private dining sales for Lighthouse Restaurant, and a half dozen catering staff members carried in large brown shopping bags, each holding a three-course meal prepared at the landmark dining establishment on the shores of Cedar Lake.
St. Mary Vice-Principal Bea Kozlowski was on hand to thank the restaurant crew.
“This was a very thoughtful gift, especially now during these times of hardship – for these teachers, the (gourmet food) is a nice gift of gratitude,” said Kozlowski.
St. Mary fourth grade teacher Arianne Wong arrived at the table near the school office that was lined with dozens of food kit bags. She carried one for her and one for a colleague to their classrooms. Special education teacher Julie Gaffney departed with one of the packages, saying she and her husband could enjoy some fine dining that evening.
Catholic schools faculty and staff were invited to register orders with Lighthouse Restaurant. Each could request dinner for up to a family of four, choosing from a menu that included main course items such as chicken, salmon and steak, as well as a variety of sides, salads and desserts.
"This is definitely gourmet, Lighthouse food … with cooking instructions in all the bags,” said executive chef Michael Nelsen of the White Lodging-owned restaurant.
More than 1,700 three-course meals were supplied to schools across the Diocese of Gary. Hernandez led the delivery crew on the special mission, crisscrossing the Region – from St. John the Evangelist School in St. John to Queen of All Saints School in Michigan City – to ensure meals arrived ahead of the weekend.
According to Jones, Rita and John Canning have a generous charitable legacy. They have championed causes such as support services for homeless and abused women and children and have helped raise more than $100 million for the Big Shoulders Fund, assisting Archdiocese of Chicago schools.
At Nativity of Our Savior School in Portage, a sense of gratitude was communicated on behalf of staff members by Principal Sally Skowronski.
She said 32 staff members received a total of 115 meals for their families.
“Any act showing gratitude is a spirit lifter," Skowronski said. “School staff work very hard everyday because they love our kids. With all the heartache in our world right now, this gift from the Cannings and Big Shoulders Fund was such a kind and unexpected gesture."
According to Dan Kozlowski, regional director of the BSF NII, such beneficence from Big Shoulders Fund donors to local Catholic educational institutions is a relationship that will carry on into the future.
He said Bruce and Beth White of their namesake family foundation along with other donors, such as the Cannings, wanted to bring the programming that started with the BSF in the Archdiocese of Chicago, here to Northwest Indiana.
“They are very appreciative of the value of a quality education, and our Catholic schools are second to none,” Kozlowski said. “You can absolutely come to expect more of these types of great news stories.”