You may have noticed a line forming every weekday evening around 3:00 pm along the front gates of Catholic Charities at 721 N. LaSalle Street in River North.
These are our neighbors, fellow Chicagoans in need of a helping hand to feed themselves or their families. It may be a one-time need or longer-term aid due to job loss, homelessness or some type of shortfall in household income.
Started in March 2006, the Thursday/Friday Night Suppers are Holy Name’s longest running program to feed the hungry. Along with Fourth Presbyterian, Catholic Charities and the Chicago Help Initiative, these groups provide 130 hot meals plus 60-80 “to go” meals Monday-Friday.
Teams of volunteers arrive at 3:30p, starting with “to go” bags of sandwiches, fruit, juice, chips and dessert and then setting up the hot-food buffet. Thursday night meals are donated by one of our restaurant partners. Friday night meals are covered by generous cash donations, sometimes from the guests themselves.
Margaret Owens, a Holy Name Cathedral parishioner, started volunteering in August 2008. As she often encourages other volunteers, she started by doing what she loves to do – in her case, baking. Each meal provides a home-baked dessert, often one of the highlights of the dinners.
Margaret laughs about the state of her apartment on baking day. Not daunted by the size of her apartment kitchen, she bakes eleven+ dozen of cookies, cupcakes or her famous kolachy, filling up counters, tables and various shelves in her home. The joy of baking becomes an even greater joy as she sees and hears how much the guests enjoy the homemade desserts.
A former HNC Human Concerns Commission Chair, Margaret also became a Supper Coordinator for the First Friday Supper for the ACT II group. Our Young Adults group lead the Second Fridays. All other Thursday/Friday nights have an HNC volunteer Supper Coordinator.
Margaret spoke of the uniqueness of this program to help the hungry. “Not only do we address their hunger, we provide a sense of fellowship and respect. They have a good time and get fed at the same time.” The guests are deeply appreciative of the direct interaction with all of the volunteers who prep the meals, serve food via the buffet or provide table-side beverage service.
How can you get involved? If you want to bake or volunteer, just call Fr. John Boivin (312-787-8040). If you cannot make the 3:30p time, you can help out with cash donations to our Supper Fund. In October & November, donate Walgreens gift cards and winter gloves. Or if you knit, help us knit winter hats now to give to our guests on St. Nicholas Day.
Read about how our parish is feeding the hungry: http://tinyurl.com/HNCsuppers
Lori Doyle
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