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Christmas decorations are packed away and the thought of tossing coins in charity coffers may be a fading memory - so a new diocesan Catholic Charities initiative will collect mid-winter monetary donations to replenish food pantries and soup kitchens.

The effort will also be a reminder that needs persist year-round.

The Feeding Our Neighbors campaign was launched by the Archdiocese of New York last year at the suggestion of Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The Albany Diocese is taking up the cause Jan. 27-Feb 3 through a collection envelope in this issue of The Evangelist (see insert), through collections at local college basketball games and at www.ccrcda.org/FeedNeighbor.htm.

"By feeding our neighbors, we respond in a positive fashion to this direct appeal of our Lord," Bishop Howard J. Hubbard wrote in promoting the campaign. "May each of us be generous in our response."

Catholic Charities leaders want to raise awareness about hunger in the 14 counties of the Diocese and encourage people to give during a week when Super Bowl parties monopolize many minds.

Be aware
While hosts stock up on salsa and chicken wings, "There's this whole other community that's coming home to an empty table," said Shannon Kelly, director of community partnerships for diocesan Catholic Charities. "Hunger is a 365-day-a-year issue. It's a time when it might not be on everyone's radar screens."

About 12 percent of the population of the Diocese - 159,000 people - live below the poverty line and have difficulty affording food, according to Catholic Charities. That includes close to 45 percent of the children in the city of Albany.

The New York State poverty rate is at about 14 percent, with 2.3 million residents relying on emergency food assistance annually.

Diocesan Catholic Charities runs nine food pantries; the agency and the parishes of the Diocese operate and support more than 50 food pantries and soup kitchens. In 2011, more than 41,000 people sought help from those food pantries, soup kitchens, meal sites and home meal delivery programs.

Just one of them, the Sister Maureen Joyce Center in Albany, serves between 120 and 160 people a day.

Growing crisis
Even programs not specifically designed for food assistance sometimes take on the issue: for instance, the Sunnyside Child Development Center in Troy will soon start filling children's backpacks with food to take home.

The situation for those in financial need has steadily worsened since the Great Recession sprung from the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007.

"What we see right now is there's a tremendous increase in the working poor," said Molly Nicol, director of development for diocesan Catholic Charities. Adversity like a hospital visit or car trouble can be catastrophic for those who normally just make ends meet, she said, especially when someone's part-time work hours are being cut or are too inconsistent to plan food budgets.

That's why food pantries and soup kitchens "have become such vital, important places," Ms. Kelly said. "It's supposed to be stopgap. It's supposed to be the last resort. But it's become the way people live their lives."

Catholics are expected to respond to the problem as part of their baptismal call, the staffers said - though the agency accepts donations from and assists people of any faith.

"We believe it's part of our responsibility to our fellow man to meet their needs," Ms. Nicol said. "I think most people, even if they're not Catholic, feel a basic responsibility."

People can't rely on the government to help those who are struggling, she said: "It takes everybody.

Your neighbors
"We know times are tight for everyone, but if you can put food on your own table, you're ahead of the game. Our job is to expose [the problem] a little: to say to folks, 'There are people living right down the street from you [who are hungry].' It's not that we don't care; it's that we're not aware."

Next year, Catholic Charities will look into involving parishes and schools in the campaign and possibly collecting food donations. Ms. Nicol says "money goes a lot further" because of food bank discounts.

Catholic Charities also hopes to collaborate with advocates and social justice workers. Catholics can educate themselves now by visiting the Hunger Action Network of New York State (www.hungeractionnys.org).[[In-content Ad]]

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