To the editor:
The members, volunteers, and staff of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Madison extend our sincere thanks for the tremendous contribution of food we received recently from nine area Catholic schools. Students, teachers, and staff enthusiastically organized and took part in the food drive held during Catholic Schools Week to help supply our new Madison pantry.
The theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week was “Celebrate Service,” and the generosity reflected by the more than 11,000 pounds of food that students, families, teachers, staff, and parish members donated is certainly a cause for celebration. This was the largest single collection of food conducted on behalf of our St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry.
Operating the busiest pantry in Dane County, we help provide nutrition to more than 1,400 people during an average week. Many neighbors in need will benefit from the faith our Catholic schools have put into compassionate action with this drive.
And the non-perishable items collected came at a providential time — just after we opened our new pantry at 2033 Fish Hatchery Rd. and just before a recent record day, when the pantry served 130 families in a single four-hour shift.
Helping us through the Catholic Schools Week Food Drive were Blessed Sacrament School, Edgewood Campus School, Edgewood High School, Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Our Lady Queen of Peace School, St. Ambrose Academy, St. Francis Xavier School, St. James School, and St. Maria Goretti School. The success of this food drive was all the more impressive because it was the first such local effort as part of Catholic Schools Week.
We thank those who donated and also appreciate the work of the Catholic Herald in drawing attention to this drive as an important component of Catholic Schools Week. The lesson offered by this effort is the same one taught by our patron, St. Vincent de Paul — that in those whom we serve we can see the face of Christ.
Ralph Middlecamp, Executive Director of the Madison Society of St. Vincent de Paul