Food “To Go” takes on a different meaning the second Saturday of every month at the Galway meetinghouse. Volunteers from the San Antonio East Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints host Catholic Charities’ “Hope Mobile,” a food pantry on wheels.
helps with the needs assessment forms.
The Church focuses on getting the word out in the surrounding community, and provides volunteers to help fill out needs assessment forms. After the form is filled out, those in need, go out to the Hope Mobile and pick up their food.
Tom Hoog – Director of Community Outreach for Catholic Charities said “Most people walk away with 25 to 30 pounds of food…. Everyone is getting the same thing, and based on family size, additional things as well.
“We’re the benefactors of many people donating to us, the truck and everything in this truck, not including the people, has been donated to us.”
“We go to communities where there is food insufficiencies. The [Stake] here does the advertising and we provide the truck.”
Spiritual Services Director for Haven for Hope
Today’s event was an interfaith effort to serve the community. Bishop Tim Mihalski, of the San Antonio 1st Ward has been working through the City’s Faith Based Initiative, specifically within the City’s District 3, to meet many from other churches. The desire of Bishop Mihalski and other faith leaders in District 3 is to come together once a quarter to serve within the community. Brookdale Baptist and City on a Hill also participated today.
City on a Hill collects and then hands out gently used clothing in their community on a weekly basis. Brookdale Baptist brought their I.D. Recovery specialists. Getting an I.D. is critical to receiving benefits and obtaining employment.
Bishop Mihalski said the vision of President James Mears, of the East Stake is “to do food drives to donate to Catholic Charities…. Because they do all of the heavy lifting. So if we can do a food drive to support Catholic Charities, and then get their truck to our Castroville building on the Southwest side, it would be very beneficial. We would look forward to possibly adding another Saturday.”
What can you do? Amy Livingstone, of the San Antonio North Stake said, “While members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints don’t formally observe Lent, the intent of this 40 day period leading up to Easter is familiar. It’s a time to prepare spiritually through prayer, repentance, sacrifice, and giving to those who are less fortunate.
“This year, the North Stake is partnering with Catholic Charities to support their “40 Days of Service/40 Cans for Lent” initiative which runs through April 13th. We’ll be holding canned food drives at each of our [North Stake] buildings and populating JustServe.org with a wide variety of service opportunities for individuals, families, auxiliaries and wards.
Amy continued, We encourage you to participate – to bless lives within San Antonio and to help our neighbors better understand the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.
See JustServe.org or talk to your Ward JustServe Specialist for more details.