Making sure dough-nations reach the needy

Most shoppers at the Price Chopper supermarket in Glenville leave with a bag or two of food. Sister Mary Lourdes Howe, CSJ, gets nine cartloads -- and doesn't pay for any of them.

Once a week, Sister Lourdes collects all of the unsold baked goods at Price Chopper that have reached their "sell by" date and distributes them to the needy in the Albany Diocese.

"Not by bread alone does man live," she explains, "but you've got to be practical!"

Recipe begins

The air is still cool and the parking lot deserted when the energetic, white-haired nun arrives at Price Chopper in her order's van every Friday morning. Bustling through the supermarket to the bakery department, she surveys the row of carts the packers have prepared for her with satisfaction.

"You're a finagler," one employee calls out. Sister Lourdes grins and retorts, "You have to be."

As she crams huge bags of bagels, doughnuts and bread into her van, Sister Lourdes keeps up a running commentary, thanking God, Price Chopper and its employees: "God bless the person that put the doughnuts in!...Oh, good; there's a big cake. Somebody needs that."

Rising idea

In addition to hauling baked goods, Sister Lourdes has a background in special education, serving as liaison for women with disabilities who live and work at St. Joseph's Provincial House in Latham. Her unique bread ministry began with two friends: Arnold and Joan Bellmer, parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church in Glenville.

The pair were shopping when they noticed baked goods being piled up to be thrown away. "If I get places that are willing to take this bread, will you give it to me?" Mrs. Bellmer asked the manager.

At first, the store was reluctant, having been cheated before by someone who took the food and resold it. Eventually, however, they agreed to give the couple the baked goods. With the help of their pastor, the Bellmers contacted churches in the area and set up a network of sites to distribute the food.

Today, the Bellmers pick up food from the Clifton Park Price Chopper and leave the Glenville outlet to Sister Lourdes, who is often helped in packing the bread by two retired men.

Many ingredients

The bread ministry is a truly ecumenical effort. Everything picked up on Fridays (except the white and wheat bread) goes to Refreshing Spring Church in Schenectady. Sister Lourdes brings the other bread to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Latham.

On other days of the week, Sacred Heart/St. Columba's parish and the New Hope Fellowship in Schenectady receive food. Other Price Choppers send food to Jewish temples and even YMCAs.

"There's a regular network for food in this area," Sister Lourdes explained. "All the churches are very good about sharing what they have. It brings us all together."

Stirring things up

Sister Lourdes credits her religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, with supporting her ministry by giving her the use of a van.

It's part of the order's charism to help others, she said: "Where the need is, there we are. We were founded to answer the needs of the society we are in."

Even so, Sister Lourdes is embarrassed at disclosing her ministry. Until recently, even her fellow women religious didn't know how she spends her Friday mornings. "All I do is deliver bread," she says simply.

Crust of society

At the other end of the chain, things aren't as cheerful. At Refreshing Spring Church, volunteers quickly unpack the van and spread the contents on tables in the church basement as people begin to line up for the desperately-needed food.

Minister Diana Fletcher, an outreach minister to the needy, gives Sister Lourdes a hug. "This is a blessing to me," she says of the baked goods. "I don't know if it's because of the economy or welfare reform, but people are coming more and more."

Since each person asking for food can only take baked goods once a week, it doesn't take long for the supplies to disappear, and Minister Fletcher must face an unpleasant task: dividing the baked goods among all those who need them.

"I just look up in the sky and say, `Well, Lord, how much can I give them today?'" she says.

Half a loaf

The end of the month is always the worst time, Sister Lourdes and Minister Fletcher say. Public assistance checks have run out, and people who ignored the baked goods at the beginning of the month suddenly turn out in droves for them.

"We fill five or six tables with food, and by 11:00, we're down to just a little bit on one table," Minister Fletcher explains.

Her van nearly empty but still fragrant with the scent of bread, Sister Lourdes finishes chatting with the volunteers and prepares to leave for her next stop.

"There's such a great need. There are not enough workers who are willing to come out and help," she explains with a shrug. "I'm not going to just give it up."

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