Feed the Hungry: Loaves & Fishes

Since 1982, St. Paul Parish has provided a nutritious meal on the 4th Thursday of each month of beef stew (brats in summer) to support the St. Ben Community Meal for the homeless and needy families in the neighborhood of 9th and State Streets.  Loaves and Fishes donations supply the food for the meal. 

You are welcome to join the cleaning, cutting, cooking crew at 8 AM on the 4th Thursday of each month.

"God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with."  --Billy Graham

Support various outreach ministries of our parish with a financial donation the third weekend of each month (see our volunteers holding the collection jar).  You can also volunteer before and after mass to collect money and to meet and greet people as they gather for Mass and thank them for their donations.  It is a rewarding ministry for group or family participation. This ministry was started in the early 1990's as a commitment to service which grew out of a small faith sharing group. Contact Mary and Tim Alters at 262-968-3338 (talters@wi.rr.com).

Time Commitment:
Once a month arrive 20 minutes before mass.  You can serve once per year or as often as you like.
For a more detailed description of Loaves and Fishes, its history, and the ministries it supports, please scroll to the bottom of this page.

DONATIONS FROM THIS MINISTRY SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING:   

Donations to Loaves and Fishes fund the purchase of groceries; one of our fellow parishioners does the shopping each month.  Casa Maria, a House of Hospitality in the Catholic Worker tradition, offers a place to live for single women and their children in need of housing.  Our fellow parishioner also delivers donations from Panera to Casa Maria.  As a parish, we support these women and children through our Giving Tree gifts, Heavenly Babies Layette bags, donations from our parish Free Clothing Share, and with supplies to the Community Center in the Casa Maria community.  Because the new families are always arriving, donations of clothing (newborn to size children's 12) are always needed.  To find out more, contact Nancy Reinbold 262- 968-4564 or visit the Casa Maria website. 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING TO STOCK SHELVES (no guest contact) PLEASE CONTACT THE DIRECTOR OF THE KM FOOD PANTRY, JOLENE JOHNSON VAN DEN ELZEN at jjohnso1959@hotmail.com or 262-968-6466.

Items in high demand, like laundry detergent, which are not normally donated, are regulary purchased by one of our fellow parishioners with the Loaves and Fishes funds.  If you would like more information about the Kettle Moraine Food Pantry, contact Vera Switalski, a parishioner who is on the board:  262-392-2389. 

Non-perishable donations to the Food Pantry must be accompanied by a current receipt to assist the food pantry is keeping the shelves stocked with unexpired food.  Thank you.

In March and October, 6-8 volunteers assist Hope Center in their mission to serve people in need in Waukesha County.  Our volunteers, often students in the high school formation program, serve the meal, beverages, and desserts.  They clean up the dining room and help clear and wash the dishes.  They also bring donations of milk and desserts. 

Contact the parish office if you would like to participate in our next meal program opportunity. 

Please keep Hope Center and their guests in your prayers during these times of restriction. 

Fair trade coffee, which directly supports farmers in Tanzania, Africa, is available for sale on the self service cart in the Gathering Space.  Contact Mark Montanye (montanyem@yahoo.com) for more information.  

The project enables the small coffee farmers living on the slopes of Mount Meru in Tanzania to have funds available to send their children to school, access and pay for health care, and to support local farm villages, markets, and merchants.

The Project provides small farmers with a fair price for their premium coffee. A fair price provides an increase in farm income, allowing the farmers to support their families with dignity.

Purchasing and drinking Mt. Meru Premium Tanzanian Coffee is the single most important way in which individuals, congregations and businesses can support thousands of family coffee farmers in Tanzania.
https://www.mtmerucoffee.org/

Belong, Believe, Become- Loaves and Fishes Our parish’s monthly Loaves and Fishes collection (ministry chairs Tim/Mary Alters talters@wi.rr.com) has been supporting food needs and the Kettle Moraine Food Pantry for more than 35 years.  It began with parish members who BELONGed to a small faith sharing “Renew” group who BELIEVEd they needed to do something beyond getting together to talk about their faith.  And from then on, every 3^rd weekend of the month, volunteers collect monetary and food donations in our Gathering Space.  Participating in one of the ministries connected to Loaves and Fishes helps each volunteer BECOME the person God created them to be!  At this time, the best way to donate to the food pantry is through direct monetary donations.

In non pandemic times, two parish volunteers drove the non-perishables donated each month to the KM Food Pantry in Wales.  Still another parish volunteer purchases laundry detergent with these monthly donations and delivers them to the KM Food Pantry (since hardly anyone ever donates laundry detergent).   The Food Pantry asked this person if they would make an additional pick up for federal/state foods and word of mouth brought another volunteer from St Paul and two from St Bruno to help as well.  One of our parishioners organizes the annual Reverse Giving Food Drive to restock the KM Food Pantry shelves in the summer.

Some of the monthly Loaves and Fishes donations are used to purchase food every month for a meal for St Ben’s Community Meal.  We have two volunteers  who shop for the food and seven ladies who gather every 4^th Thursday morning to prepare the meal - chopping vegetables and cutting meat for beef stew and preparing a shredded carrot/pineapple/raisin salad.  One of the ladies then returns back to St Paul’s every couple of hours during the day to stir the stew!  Later in the day, another volunteer drives the meal down to St Ben’s at 10^th and State.   More help is always welcome for this ministry.

Your donations to Loaves and Fishes buy a lot of groceries.  We have a parishioner who purchases purchased food for the pantry/refrigerator/freezer at Casa Maria House of Hospitality, a homeless shelter in Milwaukee for women and children.  We also have an Easter Food Drive which is coordinated by one couple who facilitates all the donations and shopping for Easter baskets for approximately 35 families and turns it into all the fixings of an Easter dinner. 

The monthly Loaves and Fishes donations average $400-500/month (plus non-perishables).  The cost of all of the related outreach to our struggling brothers and sisters has been exceeding the amount we collect.  Please be as generous as possible when you see the Loaves and Fishes volunteers on the third weekend of each month.  You are also welcome to join the multitude of volunteers associated with these ministries.  If you are interested, contact the parish office to be connected with one of our wonderful volunteers who can always use your helping hand!
Each of the volunteers involved in the ministries related to Loaves and Fishes has a story to share, some way that the Holy Spirit touched their heart and moved them to everyday stewardship.  They, like you, BELONG to the family of God.  They BELIEVE in Matthew 25:  when I was hungry, I gave you to eat.  How might you get involved to BECOME the person God created you to be?