Giving Back

  Thanks to information from the Hagedorn sisters, Jan Hagedorn and  S. Barbara, Sisters of Charity learned of and participated in the PB&J Outreach Project of Our Daily Bread last week. A group of Motherhouse Sisters prepared 200-plus sandwiches to be delivered to Our Daily Bread soup kitchen and social center on Sept. 2; the sandwiches accompany the guests who received the hot meal at noon, giving them something to eat later in the day. S. Annette Paveglio coordinated the assembly of the PB&J sandwiches assisted by Sisters Anita Parks, Sandy Howe and Kathryn Ann Connelly in the Motherhouse dining room. S. Barbara delivered the finished product to Our Daily Bread.

Annette said they were all very happy to be able to help. “Doing something for someone with all that is going on COVID-related, it was a nice way of giving,” she said. S. Ann Elizabeth Von Hagel said it brought her back to her childhood days of PB&J sandwiches prepared by her mom for school lunches. “In this instance we were preparing them for people who are really hungry and relying on them. It was good to look around and see so many contributing to the project,” she added. The Sisters of Charity Peace and Justice Outreach Fund covered the cost of the materials needed. The Sisters are looking forward to doing this outreach again soon.

Our Daily Bread is Cincinnati’s largest soup kitchen, serving hot meals to Greater Cincinnati’s hungry. As we would expect they have experienced the effects of COVID-19, seeing an increased demand for meals and decreased need for on-site volunteers. They moved to serving ‘to go’ meals, closed their small in-house dining area and have seen a marked increase in guests seeking food. Currently more than 600 meals are served each day, Monday through Friday, up from 300-400 before the virus arrived. More than 50 percent of their guests identify as homeless and 100 percent of the food prepared is donated.  We are encouraged to learn more about Our Daily Bread’s efforts in our Cincinnati community. Their mission envisions a Greater Cincinnati in which every person has sufficient access to food, essential social services and a place to feel safe. To learn of hundreds of stories of hope and stability read their newsletter by visiting their website: www.ourdailybread.us

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