St. Therese parishioners answer call to feed the hungry

Friday, Dec. 16, 2016

MIDVALE — Four years ago the “sandwich project” was born at Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish as part of a response “of that call that we all have but sometimes we don’t listen,” said Mark Neisen, project coordinator.

The inspiration for this project came from the 2012 International Catholic Stewardship Conference, which was attended by a small group of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus parishioners, and from the Peace and Social Justice Conference held in Boise the following year, Neisen said. 

“Hats off to Shannon Lee and Jean Hill at the diocese for providing the opportunity to attend these wonderful sessions,” said Neisen.

Lee was the previous director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City stewardship office; Hill is the director of the diocesan Peace & Justice Commission. 

The message from the two social justice conferences was clear, Neisen said: “We needed to act as church at the local parish level. We needed to serve our brothers and sisters within our own parish boundaries.” 

So now, every other Saturday morning, about 30 volunteers from Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish meet to prepare and deliver more than 300 sack lunches for the Road Home Family Shelter located in Midvale. 

The sack lunches include a ham-and-cheese sandwich, fresh carrots and a varied assortment of fruit, crackers, pretzels and candy. 

Neisen, with his wife, Jennifer, purchases the items for the preparation of the sacks. Then the volunteers get together and, in less than an hour, make the sandwiches and bag individual units of carrots and other food items to put in the sacks.

“It is a wonderful experience of fellowship and service. Each recipient at the shelter gets their own brown bag lunch,” Neisen said.

The program is in its fourth year of operation; it began with the 2013 winter season. 

At that time the Road Home Family Shelter was open from November through March and had a capacity of 200 people.

“But the need kept growing. It is now a brand-new shelter with a capacity of 300, and it is now open year-round, and we have plans to deliver meals on a year-round basis,” Neisen said.

To date the Sandwich Project had delivered over 8,900 lunches to the homeless shelter.

“What began with a group of five people  not knowing where the volunteers, the food or the funding would come from – we were overwhelmed from day one with the number of generous volunteers who came out of the woodwork from the parish, families and the community around our parish,” Neisen said.

The volunteers have ranged in age from 8 to 85; they are  grandparents and grandchildren, people who are active at church and others who had not been active for years, members of the Knights of Columbus, the Women’s Guild, and youth group, he said. “All understood our calling and its value.” 

“Our mission is simple: No questions asked, feed the hungry and homeless a couple of meals a month. We all have the need to give and the people have the need for our help. Everyone has the need; they simply don’t know it,” Neisen said.

Most of the lunches go to women and children. The donations for the Sandwich Project comes from individuals or groups in the Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish community. No parish funds have been used.

Other donations are being sought. To donate, mail a check to St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish. Mark the check for “Sandwich Project.”

For information on donating or volunteering, contact the parish office, 801-255-3721.