Food Packing Took Place in Columbus

Cross Catholic Outreach

Boca Raton, Florida.  June 17, 2019. Scotus Central Catholic School hosted a food packing event in Columbus, Nebraska, on Saturday, June 15, 2019, at 8:30AM.  Approximately 175 volunteers packed 40,000 meals in 90 minutes for shipment to hungry families overseas.  The event was coordinated and organized by Cross Catholic Outreach in collaboration with a small and dedicated group of Columbian Squires who hosted the packing.Only a few of the Squires attend Scotus Central Catholic and thus volunteers came from the entire community.

“I truly believe many good things above and beyond feeding others will come from the event,” said food packing volunteer Carmen Mellinger, a parishioner at St. Anthony’s parish.  “I hope that the service project helped the volunteers realize the great need others have, and the fulfillment one receives in becoming a gift of themselves by serving.”

Cross Catholic Outreach will ship the food at the end of July to Catholic ministry partners in Guatemala or Haiti, depending on where the need for hunger relief is determined to be most.

Senior Director Sandi Pino said, “Cross Catholic Outreach’s food-packing events like that at Scotus Central Catholic take place in cities large and small across America.  They provide a wonderful way for individuals within the community to be actively involved in a service that directly helps the poor and gives Catholic families a deep, personal awareness of our faith’s preferential option for the poor.”

Sandi added, “Though it’s difficult and painful to imagine, an estimated 1 billion people go to bed hungry each night. In the poorest countries, families can go days without a morsel of food. It is a tragedy of immense proportions that 16,000 children die every day from hunger related causes. Saturday’s food packing event was a great opportunity for the community to rally together to help fight against the terrible scourge of hunger around the globe.”

Cross Catholic Outreach is a Catholic relief and development ministry that provides food, shelter, medical care, water, education, care for orphaned and vulnerable children, and emergency relief services to 29 countries around the globe. The Columbian Squires are the official youth organization of the Knights of Columbus and are sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Council located in Columbus.  To learn more, call 800-914-2420 or visit https://crosscatholic.org/campaign-youth-vs-hunger/.  Contact Tom Panas, 917-359-1972, to schedule interview.