NORTH PALM BEACH | At least 300 volunteers, mostly from the parishes of St. Clare and the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola, put their energy and enthusiasm into packing 60,000 meals for those in need Sept. 28 at St. Clare’s Parish Center in North Palm Beach.
Many families and students from St. Clare School and other local schools worked in one of two shifts with staff from Cross Catholic Outreach to package rice and beans for shipment overseas. Jorge Morales-Nazario, the aid organization’s coordinator for volunteer engagement, said their current focus points are mostly in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Malawi.
Tina Zientarski, middle-school religion teacher at St. Clare School, said the philanthropic effort is instructive to children, demonstrating the corporal works of mercy.
“We try to encourage the kids to keep that in mind all the time, to be the hands and feet of Christ. Today is a visual example of that, so we’re really grateful for it. Really excited that this is happening here today,” she said, adding a word of thanks to Father Gavin Badway, cathedral rector, Father Nick Zrallack, St. Clare’s pastor, and Principal Rachel Polak for forming a partnership to spearhead the event.
Zientarski was grateful that about 15 of her middle-school students agreed to go the extra mile and work both shifts, from about 9 a.m. into the early afternoon, along with Father Zrallack. He said, “It’s nice to see, especially our young people as they come in and actually do something for someone else.”
Father Badway, who worked the early shift before leaving to celebrate a funeral Mass, said, “It’s great to see the excitement of people as they’re going through the process, because packing food isn’t just a serious ministry. It’s also fun. It can be a lot of fun.”
Shortly after 10 a.m., Morales-Nazario stopped the high-energy music to announce that they had packed 11,880 meals, emphasizing the ease at which they had served their neighbors in need.
“Do you feel that? Has it felt heavy? Absolutely not, right? Because we’re working together as a community,” he said. “Isn’t that the best way to take care of business? Don’t feel like you have to do it by yourself. You didn’t do 11,000 by yourself. It was your community.”
The food packing event was part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the cathedral and Diocese of Palm Beach. The cathedral also will host 40 hours of continuous Eucharistic adoration after the 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, Mass through Benediction shortly before the 8:30 a.m. Mass Saturday, Oct. 5. And on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. at the cathedral, Jesuit Father John Horn, a professor of spiritual and pastoral theology at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, will give a reflection on Ignatian spirituality. All are welcome.
To visit the websites of the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Clare Parish, go to www.cathedralpb.com and www.stclarechurch.net. To learn about Cross Catholic Outreach, visit https://crosscatholic.org/.
