Catholics to meet on aiding needy

On Dec. 4, the diocesan Public Policy Education Network will sponsor a meeting at St. Teresa of Avila parish in Albany with two goals: replenishing the empty shelves of area food pantries and responding to Gov. George Pataki's proposed state welfare reform plan.

One question asked of participants, said Catholic Charities director Sister Maureen Joyce, RSM, will be "what to do in my parish community." She hopes that those who attend the meeting will decide to take two steps:

* advocacy on behalf of the poor to elected officials and fellow parishioners, and

* beginning "hands-on" actions to meet the critical need to feed the hungry in the Albany Diocese.

"We have a serious food and volunteer emergency," states a letter to potential meeting attendees. Some food pantries have already run out of food; others don't have the volunteers to distribute what they have on hand.

Participants in the upcoming meeting are being asked to bring food to the meeting to begin diocesan efforts to restock the pantries. "Priority foods" include canned goods, crackers, peanut butter, powdered milk, jams/jellies, macaroni or spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, tuna and other non-perishable foods.

In addition to donating food, attendees will brainstorm ideas to meet the desperate needs of food pantries across the Diocese. Sister Maureen told The Evangelist that people from different towns have a better understanding of "where the gaps are" in access to food in their areas than diocesan officials could.

"One of the action steps is [answering the question]: 'Do we need to set up soup kitchens where people can go for a hot meal?'" she added.

Since Gov. Pataki recently issued his proposal for state welfare reform legislation, the meeting will also educate participants on his plan, so they can formulate a response. Model letters to elected officials and charts that "articulate the real impact of welfare reform" should help people to become better informed about the proposal, Sister Maureen said.

The meeting has a potential audience of several hundred people, including members of the Public Policy Network, Peace and Justice Commission, and Respect Life Network, as well as parish council presidents and persons of various faiths who attended a recent interfaith meeting on welfare reform. Other Catholics interested in advocacy for the poor are also welcome.

"If we spark a sense of excitement and enthusiasm on the part of participants, they can go home and [take action] themselves," Sister Maureen stated. "I hope they run with it, and then we can say with a degree of certitude that there isn't a place in this Diocese where people are going without food."

(The meeting on advocacy, food issues and welfare reform will be held Dec. 4, 7 p.m., at St. Teresa of Avila Social Center, Albany. For more information, call Catholic Charities at 453-6650.)

(11-28-96)

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