Parents and youth at our parish recently had the opportunity to volunteer at the St. Andrews Food Cupboard. They delivered and sorted 8 SUVs filled to the brim with donations received at OLQP & STM at our annual food drive for Thanksgiving. Thank you for your abundant generosity! While the donations of food for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday were plentiful, the youth quickly understood that these needs exist every day for people experiencing food insecurity. One of the things that they learned was that basic items, like toiletries and cleaning products, that many of us purchase regularly without a second thought are not covered by SNAP or WIC. The director of St. Andrew's Food Cupboard shared an anecdote about a client of the cupboard who was met with a difficult choice that most of our children have not had to face. He was instructed that he may select EITHER a bottle of dishwashing soap or a stick of deodorant. Sadly, these items are expensive and the cupboard cannot stock them in enough quantity to allow clients to select both.
This is a great reminder that we must take nothing for granted, and that one small act of generosity can have a BIG impact. As a result, during December we are collecting dish soap and deodorant for St Andrew's Food Cupboard in response to both the needs of our community at large as well as the desire of our youth to serve this particular need. You can drop off your donations at the collection boxes at either OLQP or STM when you come for Mass, or you may bring them to Faith Formation, Youth Group or the Christmas Party for Faith Formation families on December 17th. Thank you for supporting our parish and community!