Catholic Charities, Second Harvest fill trunks with needed food

Father Howard corralled volunteers from his church to help Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans distribute shredded cheddar cheese, frozen chicken tenders, coffee, cans of peaches and tomatoes, fresh oranges, apples and potatoes, pancake mix and more to families, some who had been waiting since 6:30 a.m. for a 9:15 a.m. distribution. Baby food also was available to those with infants.
    

Father Howard, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, delivered a blessing to start the distribution, and 25 minutes later, approximately 150 families had been served. In total, 1,173 cars drove by receiving 92,649 pounds of food that day.

    

“Thank you and God bless you,” could be heard from many of the drivers as their cars were filled with edibles.
    

“This will be a good help,” said Michelle Sylve. “I thank God for this.” 
    

Many waiting in line said they had lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis, and others were seniors feeding not only themselves but several grandchildren as well.
    

“It’s important to have this because I have eight grandchildren,” said Sandra Johnson of Violet.
 

Lourdes a perfect site
    

Our Lady of Lourdes isn’t normally a food distribution site in St. Bernard, Father Howard said. “We help with electricity bills and rent,” he said. 
    

Catholic Charities identified the site by working with local leaders. St. Bernard Church, which is further into St. Bernard, is the regular food distribution site, but Our Lady of Lourdes was closer to the people with the greatest need, said Deacon Martin Gutierrez, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
    

“I had been working with Second Harvest and trying to identify a parish with food distribution,” Deacon Gutierrez said. “I know St. Bernard and Plaquemines (civil) parishes often get forgotten, so I thought about what church parish here had a good parking lot. 
    

“I also count on the parish for volunteers. I worked with my diaconate classmate Craig Taffaro (Jr.), who is deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes, and said we could do a good distribution at his parish with perishables.”
    

Deacon Gutierrez said Catholic Charities provided staff and volunteers, and the church parish provided volunteers and the site. Second Harvest provided all the food except the baby food.
    

The need for food continues, Deacon Gutierrez said. Plans are to work with Second Harvest to distribute food on the northshore and in St. Charles Parish next. Catholic Charities has arranged to open a food pantry at the Hispanic Apostolate, 2525 Maine Ave., Metairie.
    

Catholic Charities also is helping individuals, many of whom have never been on government assistance before the pandemic, sign up for food stamps, unemployment and other benefits. It also is providing its usual services such as rent assistance, immigration and refugee services (done by phone and video) and helping the homeless.
    

“But, we realize, right now, food remains the top need,” Deacon Gutierrez said. “We are concerned about housing and utilities once the moratorium (on evicting renters and shutting off utilities) ends. Just like Katrina, the needs of the people are going to be magnified. We deal with helping with employment, child care and all those basic issues. Our counseling services (through telecounseling) are dealing with these issues, and also we are concerned about our seniors in isolation.”
    

The Catholic Charities and Second Harvest food distribution on April 24 ran concurrently with was Our Lady of Lourdes’ monthly Food for Seniors food delivery. Food for Seniors also is a Catholic Charities ministry and continues to distribute food regularly to clients weekdays from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at 7649 Townsend Place in New Orleans. It also distributes food at 1245 First St. in Harvey on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., and on Wednesday from noon-5 p.m. Visit www.ccano.org to find out more about any of its services  or to make a donation. 
 

Food need hasn’t stopped
    

Since the pandemic began in mid-March, Second Harvest has been feeding families in south Louisiana.
    

“We’ve done more than 3 million meals – a combination of food boxes and prepared meals – since the pandemic started,” said Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “That is up about a third over our traditional distribution. We have a million extra meals going out.”
    

As the pandemic continues, Jayroe said the need hasn’t diminished, but the desperation has.
    

“We’re seeing less desperation because people are seeing their (government) benefits coming in,” she said. “There’s not less need, but less desperation. We are moving to more neighborhood-style distribution like the one at Our Lady of Lourdes, because people are starting to get their benefits.”
    

Jayroe, like others, wants to emphasize that the community is not out of danger yet.
    

“The need is going to last,” she said. “We feel we like we are going to be in this for about six months. People are still going to be unemployed and are not going to be able to go the grocery. Children are not going to get the benefits they need.”
    

Jayroe worries about what happens when government assistance stops.
    

“We are planning for there to be a spike in the need in the fall,” she said. “A lot of these federal benefits now stop in June, and we don’t know if there will be a continuation. We expect a spike in July. If this virus returns in the fall, there will be a need in the fall, too.”
    

Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.