The ‘Flying Nuns’ make this Baptist’s heart soar

For the last 20 years – dating back to five years before Hurricane Katrina – Anthony Clemons has been driving a truck and organizing the Lafayette warehouse for Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, a job with such purpose that the born-and-bred Baptist who daily rubs elbows with Catholic nuns proclaims he is fulfilling what probably is an unordained ministry.

“Being part of this, man, is a blessing in disguise,” Clemons, 59, said last weekend, removing his mask to reflect briefly on the devastation inflicted upon southwest Louisiana residents by Hurricane Laura. “To come here and just see the need – and to be able to fulfill people’s needs and also pray at the same time – it’s wonderful.”

In his job of delivering food and supplies to the needy, Clemons probably has a name for every pothole on Interstate 10 between Lafayette and Lake Charles, and he can sense the presence of every speed trap along the Atchafalaya Basin between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, even before seeing it.

For the last three weeks, Clemons has made the daily roundtrip from his home in Lafayette to Catholic Charities’ distribution center in Lake Charles, where he is using his Second Harvest organizing skills to get food and supplies through the front door and then out the same door as fast the commodities come in.

In Second Harvest parlance, Clemons is known as a “warehouse specialist,” and he’s been a godsend to Religious Sister of Mercy Miriam Mac­Lean, a 34-year-old who runs the Catholic Charities organization along with several other nuns from her Alma, Michigan, community.

“My responsibility is to get the products in and get them weighed up real good, and then get it to the needy,” Clemons said. “We get a lot of donations from all across the United States. We’ve had big donations from the Houston Astros. It comes right in, and then it’s gone. The sisters have a nice system. We load it up and disperse it to different churches. They call me, and we get it ready.”

Clemons has a special name for Sister Miriam and her fellow sisters, who rode out the storm in late August and then returned the next day to their facility, one of the few in Lake Charles that amazingly did not sustain major damage from Laura, and launched emergency distributions of commodities.

“You mean the Flying Nuns? That’s what I call them,” Clemons said, smiling. “They are amazing – just their characteristics, their personalities. Coming from the Baptist side, working with them is amazing. They are so humble, so sweet, so kind. That’s like spiritual food getting fed to you.”

Like it was for New Orleans residents after Katrina, getting to Ground Zero from the outside is an exercise in sainted  patience. A 75-minute drive from Lafayette to Lake Charles now can take the better part of 2 1/2 hours because there are so many vehicles on the road.

“That’s because there’s no place to stay in Lake Charles, so everybody’s driving there from Lafayette, Opelousas and Baton Rouge,” Clemons said.


 

When he was driving trucks around south Louisiana for Second Harvest, the Lake Charles warehouse was one of his food delivery stops, so “this is like being home.”

When he was little, Clemons said he used to get “infatuated” by hurricanes because it usually meant getting a few days off from school.

“But as you grow into it, you start to understand how devastating it is that people lose their lives, their homes,” he said. “When I see a storm in the Gulf, my antenna goes up, because, here we go, at warp speed. You see people who are helpless. You’ve got to dig down and see that we can be the people who bring their morale back up.

“Katrina tore families apart. It moved people from Louisiana to other states. Those are friends who are gone who you will never see again. So, I hate hurricanes, because they tear your life up.”

Clemons said he probably will remain working at the Catholic Charities warehouse in Lake Charles for as long as he is needed. Every evening, when he makes his return trip home to Lafayette, he is struck by what God has allowed him to accomplish that day.

“Before I leave here, I’m overwhelmed,” Clemons said. “I just thank God that I was able to come and provide my service to those who need it. And it also makes your chest stick out – makes you proud of yourself.”

pfinney@clarionherald.org