Several days a week, the reception hall at St. Anthony Marie de Claret Parish in Kyle transforms into a warehouse of workers busily packing boxes of non-perishable food items for the Central Texas Food Bank.
Parishioner Kent Gates leads workers — who are properly distanced, wearing masks and gloves — in prayer before they begin.
“The servant attitude comes out in people in times like these,” Gates said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. The church hall serves as a packing facility where parish volunteers work four days a week to help the food bank meet the demand of hungry families.
As the nation has felt the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic at every level, the spirit of Christianity remains strong. St. Anthony is heeding the call to service, and the Knights of Columbus at St. Paul Chong Hasang Parish in Harker Heights are as well (see box below).
Father Uche Andeh, pastor of St. Anthony, is humbled by the generosity of his parishioners.
“This shows an incredible generosity with their time at a time when people are afraid and stay home … there are brothers and sisters out there who need this food … This is what it means to be a church, to take care of each other in a time of need,” he said.
While the volunteer effort at St. Anthony Parish practically happened overnight as the virus intensified and the food bank was slammed with demand, the volunteers proceeded with extreme care and careful planning.
Father Andeh said the safety of parishioners was foremost before he gave his approval.
“The food bank has a standard protocol to do this. We took those procedures and implemented the operation,” he said.
Jeff Gonzales, the director of operations at the food bank and a parishioner at St. Anthony, helped turn the reception hall into a satellite station for the food bank.
“The pandemic is a disaster, and we need a back-up plan to get food to people,” Gonzales said. He worked with four other churches — Celebration Church in Georgetown, Austin Christian Church and Life Church and Greater Mt. Zion in Austin — to set up satellite stations to help with the distribution of food to the hungry in 21 counties in Central Texas.
“We had to plan that if we had an outbreak of cases at our warehouse, we needed locations where we could still handle food. Demand for food has increased, in some areas by 300 percent,” Gonzales said.
Every week the pre-packaged boxes — like the ones assembled at St. Anthony — are taken to the pantry’s main facility. The food is distributed using a drive-through system.
“These satellite locations are a phenomenal help and give us the relief due to the high demand,” Gonzales said.
Organizing the satellite location at St. Anthony went relatively smooth, he said. Once the call for volunteers went out, parishioners stepped up to fill enough slots for the parish to work Wednesday through Saturday. Each day, morning and afternoon shifts are filled with 15 volunteers who work at properly distanced at tables in assembly line fashion to load boxes.
They wear masks and gloves and take hourly breaks to wash their hands. Saturdays are reserved for families who bring their teenagers to pitch in. In some cases, the youth are fulfilling community service hours as they prepare for confirmation.
The satellite locations are overseen by food pantry auditors who organize the work and make sure safety procedures are followed, Gonzales said. Parish site leaders like Gates are charged with making sure workers follow safety standards. All the while, parishioners “develop good camaraderie,” Gates said.
Esther Diaz, a parishioner at St. Anthony, volunteers often with her fellow choir members.
“One day, we just started singing choir songs. Somehow, we managed through the masks,” she said.
Volunteering is a welcomed change these days, she said.
“It’s good to get out of the house to do something,” Diaz said.
St. Anthony Parish will continue their work for the food pantry until the area economy is restored to its previous robust pace or when the food pantry returns to standard operation. Until then, the satellite locations are essential, Gonzales said.
According to its website, the Central Texas Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief charity in Central Texas. The foodbank’s service territory includes: Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Coryell, Falls, Fayette, Freestone, Gillespie, Hays, Lampasas, Lee, Limestone, Llano, McLennan, Milam, Mills, San Saba, Travis and Williamson counties. Roughly 300 partner agencies work with the foodbank to serve families in 21 Central Texas counties at soup kitchens, food pantries, after-school programs, snack programs and other service sites. For more information, visit www.centraltexasfoodbank.org or call 1-800-786-2616.