This month, our Br. Mike Herlihy, OFM Cap., shared photos of an inspiring experience at Washington DC's Shrine of the Sacred Heart where many "have been struggling with food insecurity and poverty as a result of the pandemic. The Church has been making an effort to help relieve some of their struggles." Br. Mike reported that one of friars got a call from the pastor of a local Christian church in the city with a contact who could provide a "huge shipment of food from the USDA." Br. Dave Domanski and Br. Mike came out of the church on a Saturday morning to find 60 volunteers from churches all around DC, hundreds of people waiting in line, three 40ft. tractor trailers and 75,000 lbs. of groceries to be unloaded.
Mike continues: "The volunteers prayed together thanking God for providing for us and then we got to work. Over 1,250 people brought home groceries to their families that day. The food was gone in less than 6 hours. Word spread fast. When we ran out of food, there were still people in line that we had to turn away. This was all after handing out groceries to 400 people in our weekly Friday program the day before. Some of the people when they received their boxes would look up to the sky and thank Jesus."
