Volunteers from St. Clare Food Pantry, a ministry of St. Paul Parish in Kensington, unload boxes of donated food for its Thanksgiving meal handout in early November at Sacred Heart Church in East Berlin.

Story and Photos by Shelley Wolf

More than 180 families have been blessed with all the fixings for a nutritious and delicious Thanksgiving meal, thanks to the generosity of Catholic parishioners at St. Paul Parish in Kensington and the hardworking volunteers from its St. Clare Food Pantry.

Earlier this month, 65 volunteers from the St. Clare Food Pantry handed out frozen turkey breasts and prepackaged ingredients in “grab and go” bags at Sacred Heart Church in East Berlin, one of two worship sites belonging to the parish. On Nov. 10, the Connecticut Foodshare Mobile Pantry was also on site to provide fresh vegetables.

As for the volunteers, “They show up in all kinds of weather. They are a phenomenal group,” says Nancy Timbrell, coordinator of the St. Clare Food Pantry, part of St. Paul’s Social Action Committee.

The day before the distribution, a drizzly day, the St. Clare volunteers packed a pickup truck full of stuffing, canned yams, gravy, cranberry sauce and baking supplies and transported the items across town from St. Paul Church in Kensington to Sacred Heart Church in East Berlin.

Men and women worked together, hauling heavy boxes filled with donations to stock the shelves. On distribution day, more volunteers arrived to bag the items for a quick handout to the many individuals standing in line. Volunteers were also responsible for unloading the Foodshare truck.

Father Joseph Benicewicz, OFM Conv., the current pastor of St. Paul Parish, arranged for the distribution of 180 frozen turkey breasts he purchased at a discount from Big Y. For Christmas, he hopes to distribute an equal number of hams.

Ed Como, a lead volunteer, says that with the current economic conditions, he has noticed a change in those who seek donated food. “For a long time, most of our clients have been senior citizens,” Como observes. “Now we’re seeing more working families.”

According to Timbrell, the food distribution began about 15 years ago at the suggestion of Father Edmund Nadolny, former pastor of what was then Sacred Heart Parish, who set up banquet tables, bought some food and persuaded parishioners to contribute food and share it with those in need.

Future priests kept the ministry going and five years ago, when Sacred Heart and St. Paul parishes merged into St. Paul Parish with two worship sites, the two communities joined into one and combined their efforts, forming St. Clare Food Pantry.

Now nonperishable food is collected on an ongoing basis at the entrances of St. Paul Church and warehoused on its spacious campus. Then food is distributed twice a month on a Friday at noon at Sacred Heart Church.

In October, St. Clare Food Pantry also donated enough items for Thanksgiving dinner for 30 families to the Town of Berlin Food Pantry. The ministry contributes food on a regular basis to the Friendship Center in New Britain as well.

Sacred Heart Church is an official Foodshare site and is currently operating at peak capacity, serving 180 families from Berlin and the surrounding towns, Timbrell says. The pantry is always in need of more food, adds Como. To volunteer or donate nonperishable items, contact the parish at (860) 828-0331.

For more information on Foodshare Mobile Pantry sites around the state, including dates and times, visit ctfoodshare.org.