The Missouri Area began working with the St. Pius V Catholic Church (SPV) Food Pantry as part of its efforts to carry out the Order of Malta’s mission of serving the poor and the sick. St. Pius V is located in the heart of south St. Louis City. The surrounding neighborhoods have a high number of refugees and immigrants, unemployed and under-employed individuals, and families with limited resources. It is not uncommon to see “households” composed of two or more families, and eight or more individuals in an apartment or small house, and it is estimated that forty percent of those served at the food pantry do not speak English or speak English as a second language.
The SPV Food Pantry is a work of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Conference. In addition to supporting those in need with food, it also provides assistance with utilities, rent, and transportation. In providing this array of services, the SPV food pantry serves in the role of what Pope Francis calls “a field hospital” church.
The Missouri Area recently provided donations from its members of food, household supplies (such as diapers), and cash. Teams of members also did hands-on work staffing the food distribution portion of the SPV food pantry July and August. The testimonial of the President of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference at SPV speaks for itself:
I know that I speak for the entire food pantry team in extending our most sincere thanks to all who participated! The volunteers on both Saturdays were amazing. People jumped right into the action with enthusiasm! Inviting our neighbors to “shop” rather than handing them a box of staples has been a positive development in the pantry in many ways. But it requires more volunteers than can be recruited from our own small parish. We depend on the kindness and generosity of neighborhood residents and those who worship in other parishes to sustain the work.
The donations the Order of Malta collected were also most welcome. We were actually able to cancel one of our regular weekly purchases of food from Aldi. That order, along with the purchase of milk and eggs from a separate source, cost about $3000 each week. And our diaper shelves are replenished! That means so much to the young families who come to us.
May God bless each of you for your generosity. I thank God for all of you! And I thank him for the privilege of doing this work to support our neighbors with some of their very basic needs.
The Area Hospitallers are exploring the possibility of making the regular staffing for the food party one of the many ways in which Knights, Dames, and Associates carry out the Order’s mission of serving our neighbors.
