Los Angeles parish's food pantry helps build community

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A young Hispanic woman edged her shopping cart through the food pantry line at St. Margaret Mary Alacocque Church, pausing at the pastry table.

Volunteer Jill Lotta smiled. "You can choose three items." "Tres?" "Yes. Tres." The woman's eyes grew moist and she smiled. "God bless you!" Lotta has been volunteering at the Wednesday food pantry for 12 years. "I've learned some Spanish," she said. "But the volunteers and clients here speak the language of love." St. Margaret Mary is a largely middle-class, ethnically diverse parish amid neighborhoods of tidy homes in the Los Angeles suburb of Lomita. Over its 70 years, it has developed a reputation for aggressively serving the poor. A typical Wednesday morning finds poor people from the area, some of them homeless, in the parish hall. They sip coffee, munch pastries and talk as they wait for the grocery line to open. Nearby, silver-haired parish volunteers stock tables with grocery bags. Chatting with the clients is parish Christian service director Laura Nieto. "We set up this social area with round tables for clients to linger, talk with (other) clients and volunteers and briefly escape their difficult lives," she explained. "We're building a feeling of 'we' rather than 'them and us.' We get to know our clients and their situation, and help them feel like they belong. We encourage clients to become volunteers." The Wednesday food pantry, she said, is the culmination of a week's work by parish volunteers who pick up, purchase, sort, prepare and serve groceries. Between 9 and 11 a.m., 250 families will receive a week's groceries. Nobody is turned away. About 75 percent of the clients are Hispanic, 10 percent African-American, 10 percent Anglo and 5 percent Asian. Most come from Lomita, Harbor City and parts of Torrance, where the volunteers also live. The groceries, mostly donated by local grocers, help low-income clients get by and stay housed, Nieto said. One client, 32-year-old Sylvia, is a Lomita resident whose recent operation limits her work. "They serve you with a smile," she said of the people staffing the pantry. "It feels like a family." Doris, an African-American senior, said rising food prices and rent would make it hard without these groceries. "I live for Wednesdays," she said as she sipped coffee. "I've made friends here. These volunteers are so generous." At 9 a.m., volunteers and clients join hands and pray. Then the clients begin moving from table to table with shopping carts. The sign-in table is staffed by volunteers Carmen and Delores, who are sisters. "We get to know our clients and what's happening in their lives," said Carmen. "We've gone to their children's weddings." Client Richard, who used to be homeless, was befriended and encouraged by volunteers, who even took him shopping for school supplies. He's now in college. When clients also volunteer, friendships strengthen. At the entrance, first-time clients are welcomed by volunteer-client Raquel, who arrived nine months ago. "This food helps me, so I contribute," she said. "It's like a family community here. And I now realize people are worse off than me." A UCLA study claims 957,000 Los Angeles County adults experience "food insecurity." Nieto said, "Our parishioners are realizing that with rising housing, utility, food and gas prices, and poor public transit, many struggle. Our program makes lives better by giving people basic help and a boost." In addition to the "crown jewel" Wednesday food pantry, St. Margaret Mary coordinates a job referral program, psychological counseling, Sunday community homeless feeding and classes in English as a second language and citizenship. Nieto envisions a center with beds, showers, clothes and a kitchen. In his nearby office, Msgr. Patrick Thompson, pastor, speaks proudly of the tradition of parish outreach at St. Margaret Mary. "Our Wednesday food pantry isn't just about giving food," he said. "We also give our presence. I want clients to feel like somebody looked at me and cared about me, and it was a good experience." He added, "I'd like every parishioner to volunteer, so more will discover there's a problem and that we can help."

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops