PORTAGE – Father Kevin McCarthy is proud of his parish for many reasons, but near the top of his list is the food pantry at Nativity of Our Savior, which recently served its highest number of families in a day – 232 – which translates to about 800 people being fed.
“It’s an amazing outreach,” said the pastor. “We have people coming from all over.”
Father McCarthy believes what makes the ministry exceptional is the hospitality extended to those it assists.
“We don’t place any sort of judgement,” he said. “Watching the first group of women greet those who come and then others – there really is a sense of providing more than just the physical food, but that sense of support.”
Father McCarthy enjoys watching the interactions with the guests and among the volunteers. He shared that there is a lot of laughter and joy that happens within the ministry. He thinks the faith-based atmosphere is the reason why many parishioners who come to check out the food pantry quickly decide to become involved.
Father McCarthy also pointed out that the food pantry continues to serve as an example of how God always has a way of providing. While the partnership with the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana has been a blessing to the pantry, donations have also come from parishioners, area schools and even the local post office.
In 1982, parishioner Earl St. Germain, a member of the parish's Holy Name Society, started the food pantry at Nativity. A few years later he retired from work and planned to move from the area but not before he knew the pantry would continue, entrusting the operations to Charles Myers and Carlos Cruz.
Cruz, aware of how much work was involved, was slightly hesitant to be put in charge of the program at first but felt compelled to take on the task.
“I always felt the need to help other people,” Cruz said. “At one time I was a member of the Portage Jaycees and one of the mottos was ‘To serve people is the best thing to do in life’ and I always believed that.” Cruz agreed to manage the pantry with Myers as long as there was money available.
With the agreement in place, St. Germain asked the duo to place their hands over a Bible he carried in his pocket as he asked, “Do you promise to continue the food pantry until you run out of money?”
“At one time I almost came close to running out of money,” Cruz admitted. “I think at one time I had like $20 left in the account, but then they would make an announcement on Sunday that the pantry is running out of food and funds and the parishioners always came through. They never failed me.”
Cruz, now 85, assisted with picking up food, maintaining financial records and more with the help of others over the years, including Myers and later Paul Dravet – until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Father McCarthy understood that older volunteers like Cruz, could not safely continue working at the pantry and risk contracting the coronavirus, but he also knew that area residents still needed support. Therefore, he decided to take over the responsibilities of the pantry with a new core group of volunteers. Among the parishioners who stepped up to help were Alyce Weidner and Michelle Dailey. Together they decided, in an effort to minimize personal contact, to pre-package bags of food and operate the pantry as a drive-thru so those in need could still receive supplies.
Dailey said she was “all on board” and “all in” to work at the food pantry because she knew people were struggling. Her job as a school counselor in the area gave her insight into the difficulties families were having during the pandemic feeding their children and going to work.
Dailey estimated when the new operations began, they were assisting 120 families a month, and now the average is close to 500 families. She has also seen the number of volunteers increase from five people at the beginning to more than 30 parishioners who come at different times to volunteer.
“People are very moved by what we are doing, and our parish is just very generous. It’s just blossomed,” she said.
Dailey stressed that first and foremost the food pantry is a ministry. “Our mission is to treat people with kindness and act with grace and be the face of God, the face of Jesus, for these people,” she said. “In those moments when you can have conversations with people, let them know they are loved, and they are cared for.”
The Nativity of Our Savior Food Pantry is open on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m. Food is picked up from the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana on Mondays. Then, the Friday before the distribution, a team gathers to pre-pack the items. For more information, call the parish office, 762-4858.
To anyone considering volunteering at a food pantry, Dailey suggested, “Give it a try, because it's more of a blessing for you doing God’s work than anything you are doing for someone else. The blessing you receive is greater.”