American Martyrs Packs One Millionth Meal with Partner Cross Catholic Outreach

Catholic Church in California prepares to reach remarkable milestone for meals packed for families in need.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – November 7, 2023 – Cross Catholic Outreach, a Catholic global relief and development nonprofit, has worked for years with American Martyrs Catholic Church in Manhattan Beach, California, to provide food for the poor via food packing efforts at the parish. The latest food packing event collaboration between Cross Catholic Outreach and American Martyrs Catholic Church, scheduled for Nov. 10-11, 2023, will celebrate a monumental milestone: 1 million meals packed for impoverished families in developing countries.

American Martyrs Catholic Church hosted its first food packing event in March 2021 by packing 120,000 meals, then continued to pack between 150,000 and 200,000 meals every nine months until this November, when it will pack its millionth meal.

“We are incredibly inspired by Father John Barry and his team of friends, families and parishioners at American Martyrs Catholic Church for putting their faith into action and sharing the love of Christ with the poor,” said Michele Sagarino, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “Packing 1 million meals for the poor is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the Church’s commitment to serving impoverished families.”

American Martyrs Catholic Church is at the center of an unfolding story of love between its families and the families they serve in Guatemala. Under Fr. John’s leadership, the church has built a chapel in the village of La 46, constructed homes for several families in La 46, provided food relief to poor parishioners during the COVID-19 pandemic, gifted duffel bags of supplies for girls at Hogar de la Niña and built a new home for a woman who donated her land and home to the church in Guatemala. You can read more about the tremendous work the church has done with its efforts to serve the poor here.

“This is a beautiful, inspiring ministry that shows its love for the poor through tangible action and compassion,” said Sagarino. “We cannot wait to see where this unfolding story of love takes them.”

To learn more about the work of American Martyrs Catholic Church alongside Cross Catholic Outreach, please see An Unfolding Love Story and A Parish Reaches a Historic Milestone in Caring for the Poor.

For additional information, or to schedule an interview with Sandi Pino, the senior director at Cross Catholic Outreach, who will help run the food packing event, please email Kevin Wandra of Carmel Communications or call 404-788-1276.

About Cross Catholic Outreach

Based in Florida, Cross Catholic Outreach is an official Catholic nonprofit 501(c)(3) relief and development organization that, since its founding in 2001, has given more than $4 billion in aid to help “the poorest of the poor” in more than three dozen developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and other parts of the world. For more information about Cross Catholic, visit CrossCatholic.org or call 800-914-2420.

About American Martyrs Catholic Church

American Martyrs Catholic Church, located in Manhattan Beach, California, is a welcoming community, helping one another to live and witness to our faith in Christ, so that through our actions God’s love prevails. Founded in 1935, and under the leadership of the pastor Monsignor John Barry since 1983, American Martyrs Catholic Church is a vibrant parish of 7,000 families, with a large school, preschool, religious education program and more than 50 ministries, serving the community and many others in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and far beyond. For more information, visit americanmartyrs.org.