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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Helping hands for the holidays

Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published November 23, 2007

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Ryan Haefner, 13, of St. Alexander Parish inFarmington Hills talks with a woman while carrying a bag of food to her car.

At St. Alexander in Farmington Hills, Ray Haefner (left) packs a box of food which 14-year-old Ashley Galooza (right) will carry to the car of someone in need.

Metro area — A struggling economy, mounting foreclosures and one of the nation's highest unemployment rates has created a strong need for assistance in metro Detroit. And, during the holiday season, local Catholic institutions have been stepping up to fill that need.

"Every time you can come into a house of worship and receive food, it's a real blessing," says Viola Westbrook, who last weekend received a box of food for a Thanksgiving Day meal from St. Alexander Parish in Farmington Hills. "In all uncertainties, I can come here. I appreciate this."

Westbrook was among nearly 200 families to receive food baskets from St. Alexander. And St. Alexander is itself among hundreds of Catholic parishes, charities and individuals doing what they can to help the needy during the holiday season.

Dozens of networks and partnerships aimed at feeding the hungry and giving clothing to the needy exist within the Detroit-area Catholic community. While the amount of giving is difficult to quantify, the Church no doubt is responsible for providing meals to several thousand families near the end of the year. Several thousand volunteers and donors also are involved in the process.

Many parishes team up with soup kitchens in the inner-city, such as the St. Christine, St. Leo, St. Aloysius and the Capuchin Soup Kitchens in Detroit.

Other parishes team up to feed the people in their nearby communities — such as St. Colman Parish in Farmington Hills, which collects food for St. Alexander's program.

Organizations including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Social Services also play a part in organizing food drives and distributing goods to those in need.

And when Thanksgiving Day and Christmas approach, virtually all such Catholic institutions kick into high gear with food baskets, clothing, Christmas gifts for adults and children, and to fill other needs.

"When you're serving the poor, you know that at those critical times, they're going to need more assistance than they do throughout the rest of the year," says Diane Neville of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which has 179 conferences at parishes around the archdiocese. "It's just part of our charism to do that."

Indeed, it's a part of every Christian's responsibility to give to those in need as Christ taught, says Sr. Anne Mamienski, IHM, pastoral minister at St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township.

"It's a Gospel mandate," says Sr. Mamienski. "Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless — we try to do all these things."

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Betty Mott (left) and Jim Kopenen (right) keep a steady flow of Thanksgiving Day meals going at St. Alexander Parish’s food pantry Nov. 17, while Virg Rozman (center) supervises.

St. Alexander Parish in Farmington Hills gave out nearly 200 boxes of food.

Sr. Mamienski says 15 or 16 people call the parish each day, looking for assistance. What St. Thecla offers, she says, isn't just meals, but also spiritual food.

"It's a form of evangelization when we reach out to others," she says. "A lot of the people who come in don't have any church."

At least one family has joined the parish because of the food donations at St. Thecla, she adds.

Catholic schools also have traditions of giving. Regina High School in Warren each year collects about $5,000 in food and money for a number of charities.

Catholic elementary schools in Detroit this year competed with one another to collect food donations. Other schools assist charities, such as St. Michael in Livonia, which raised $2,000 for the Detroit Rescue Mission to provide the needy with Thanksgiving Day meals.

The giving isn't only through Church institutions, either. A handful of Catholics in metro Detroit have launched their own initiatives to bring food and fellowship to those in need.

Carl Slomczenski, a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish, Orion Township, is the owner of C.J.'s Lakeside Grill in Lake Orion. On Thanksgiving Day, his restaurant is open to provide free meals to seniors and those without family and friends. They even cook dinners to be taken to the homebound through the Meals on Wheels organization.

"We have a great time when we're here," says Slomczenski, who's done this for the past 11 Thanksgivings and feeds up to 350 people. "If everybody did something good, it would be a better world. That's what I've been taught my whole life."

He adds that, during the Thanksgiving meal, people don't just come for the food, either.

"They're not only looking for a meal," he says. "They're looking for some companionship."

Whether at a parish or at a restaurant, charitable acts by those in the Church are a tangible sign to many that God cares about them.

At St. Alexander, a woman named Sherry agrees. She says her faith in God was rekindled by the Church stepping forward and helping her in her difficult time with food donations.

"I lost my faith in God and I'm just starting to get it back," she says. "And this place has really helped."