“Celebrating Catholic Sisters Week and the food drive was an adventure. Generosity, kindness, empathy and goodwill made this food drive a fitting celebration of Catholic Sisters.
The Sisters volunteered their time and donated food, personal items, baby items and even cat food!
The floor of a 9-foot U-Haul van was covered twice with donations. With Jonathon from the congregation Maintenance Department driving the van, we delivered donations to St. Alphonsus on Thursday.
My daughter, Katy, and I took the van to St. Joseph the Worker on Saturday. When I spoke with Julia, our contact , on Monday morning, she said the food donations were appreciated, especially by one of their parishioners who was having brain surgery on March 13. He is father to a family who needed food and they were able to choose what they needed from our donations.
Financial donations will be distributed to the parishes.
It was a blessing for me to work with the Sisters and Associates who stayed with the van and froze outdoors even though the sun was shining most days. Nancy Koehler, I learned, carries rope in her car which came in handy when she and Jim Rademaker used it to secure the ‘Catholic Sisters’ sign on the van. We were hoping folks driving by would be inspired to stop and see what we were about. Wynn, Nancy’s pet dog, greeted folks enthusiastically while Jim shared the story of meeting his wife for the first time.
Hearing stories from Jim, Sandy Cleveland, and the Sisters was wonderful. Thank you to whomever filled the gas tank while the van was parked in front of Aquinata Hall when no one was around!
Everyone’s hugs and stories and donations were greatly appreciated by this volunteer project coordinator!
Teaser for Next Year: Along with a compilation of suggestions and ideas folks provided for next year, I’m hoping Sr. Elaine LaBell’s quilt titled “Image of Giving as a Community” will somehow be featured in Food Drive 2024!
