‘Hams for Fams’ expands to chip away at hunger

While a student at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Dalton Haydel witnessed the many New Orleanians in need by participating in the school’s annual Thanksgiving basket distribution.

When he was invited to join the nonprofit Hams for Fams, started by fellow Jesuit students years earlier, he didn’t hesitate.

“I saw how impactful it was to lift some weight off the shoulders of people, so they can give their children gifts at Christmas,” Haydel, a current University of Virginia student studying political philosophy, policy and law who coordinated the 2023 Hams for Fams effort. “I delved into it and tried to learn all the ropes. It became quite the community of people.

“We are all busy – many of us are university students spread throughout the country. We put everything we’ve got into raising as much money as we can and providing as much food as we can for families. It is so fulfilling.”

How it started
Realizing that there were more families needing food than Jesuit’s annual drive could accommodate was the impetus for eight Jesuit students to start Hams for Fams, said founding member Palmer Montalbano, now earning a master’s degree in bioethics at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“The guys who originally thought of the idea knew that not as much was done for food around Christmas, and we talked about how kids are home from school (during the holidays) and aren’t getting food at school,” Montalbano said. “We wanted to do something about that.”

In fact, the name materialized since many families serve ham, not turkey, at Christmas.

Montalbano handled social media in the early days of the organization but is now executive director of FAM Core Foundation, an umbrella nonprofit established in 2018 by the original members to expand and raise more money to help additional families. 

They started other service projects, like Hams for Fams, in cities where they attended college. Fam Core Foundation also has a separate Christmas drive on the northshore called the Knights in Action in partnership with the Louisiana Knights baseball team baseball team.

“FAM Core recruits students to run the fundraising activities,” Montalbano said. “Every drive that we do – in Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston and Lafayette – we keep it locally run and organized. It’s the community helping the community.”

Montalbano remains active because he loves the connection to his hometown, and he’s seen the worth in service to others.

“I love New Orleans, and I feel blessed to be given the opportunity to give back and still feel connected,” he said. “It’s my favorite part of coming home for Christmas. It’s taught me a lot about teamwork, about how much effort goes into any organization, especially behind the scenes. By taking on a leadership role, I’ve gotten hands-on experience.”

Increased need
Last year marked the largest distribution thus far in the organization’s history. Hams for Fams raised $30,000 and was able to provide 270 baskets of food for families, Haydel said. 

In the first year, 2015, Jesuit students raised approximately $2,000 and fed 20 families. In its eight-year history, Hams for Fams has raised over $125,000 and provided Christmas meals to more than 1,300 local families.

It takes many hands to make each year’s drive possible. Aiding in the nonprofit’s 2023 distribution were Blue Runner beans, donating approximately 700 bags of red beans worth more than $1,000; Canseco’s Market, working with vendors to supply discounted prices on pallets of food, including canned carrots, pineapples, macaroni and cheese, gravy, salad mix, Italian dressing, rice, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, potatoes, milk, butter, eggs and cookie dough; St. Catherine of Siena, offering its cafeteria to pack the baskets; and volunteers, who get a Hams for Fams T-shirt, packing/delivering baskets in groups.

Local girls’ high school students have also helped out in various capacities.

Even now, Haydel says more families than the group can feed have been signing up on the website.

“We’re trying to grow to meet the demands of the people in the city, and we’re looking at different ways we can raise more money,” Haydel said.

For example, members spoke at local Catholic churches during Advent asking for help. 

“We’ve raised thousands of dollars this way,” he said. “It really helped. But, we’re looking to endow the organization to have more stability to branch out and feed more people.”

Montalbano said it’s the values imbued from his Catholic faith that impels his association with Hams for Fams.

“It reminds me of what Pope Benedict said about two ways of experiencing Jesus on earth –  one is the Eucharist and other is serving the least among us,” he said. “Whatever you do for the least of my people, you have done for me.”

Hams for Fams’ busiest time usually starts in November until the December distribution, Haydel said. But donations can be made any time, and volunteers can register on the website: www.hamsforfams.org/. 

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