40 Cans for Lent food drive helps families in need

It’s a busy spring morning inside the rectory of Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Newkirk.

A Bible study is beginning in the living room, while a small group of the parish’s Knights of Columbus ducks into a bedroom down the hall. On the floor of that bedroom lies a collection of boxes and plastic sacks, each filled with non-perishable food items, from cans of fruits and vegetables to boxes of pasta, all waiting to be placed on the shelf of a local food pantry, and soon after, on a pantry in someone’s home.
 
Several Knights load the food donations into an SUV, and 20 minutes later that vehicle pulls up outside the New Emergency Resources Agency (NERA) in Ponca City. The agency, which sits just south of Grand Avenue downtown, serves residents across the region with food needs.

After the food items are unloaded into NERA’s warehouse, Executive Director Christopher Radaker-James reveals a beaming smile with the amount of food brought in from the church.

“This helps a lot, because NERA isn’t funded by any government entities,” Radaker-James said. “We survive on donations and volunteer work.”

Many area entities support the food pantry, including Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, which has contributed many years of dedication to the pantry through the 40 Cans for Lent food drive.

“The Knights have been sponsoring them for quite a few years, at least 10 years,” said Deacon Bill Horinek. “Typically we donate approximately 500 pounds of food.”

NERA was in its infancy when the Knights of Columbus first started helping the young organization. It began as a small organization that provided help to the local community.

“We thought that was a good way to support them in their efforts, since they were the hands and the feet on the ground,” Horinek said. “NERA provides for people’s needs for a 30-mile radius.”

Now, more than 10 years later, the needs of community members have grown. The organization covers a wide area, from Red Rock to the south and the Kansas state line to the north, and from Shidler, in Osage County west to just past Blackwell.

The help from Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church couldn’t come at a more important time, as NERA sees an increasing amount number of people with food needs.

“We have an ever-expanding group of clients in need. Right now, we see between 150 – 200 new people every month,” Radaker-James said. “There are more than a thousand individuals that are needing our help right now.”

Donated items will be put together for two specific groups – the homeless and those who do have a home, yet are low-income. The homeless receive a bag of nonperishable groceries.

“We give out about 50 bags every week, and that has been growing, as well,” Radaker-James said.

The low-income families with needs visit the facility and its small grocery store, which not only includes the donations from local churches, but also fresh food, including dairy, produce and meat and even frozen options. Volunteers help the families receive what they need.

“Our goal with the grocery center is to make it feel like a real grocery store, a dignified experience,” Radaker-James said.

The facility also has volunteers and staff members who assist in loading the groceries into vehicles. It’s all part of what those involved consider part of a larger community spirit to help those in need, to spread the love of Christ to those who need it most.

“The Knights of Columbus not only support the local church,” Horinek said, “but they also support the community in a lot of the functions that they do to serve the community at large, and that is one way we help to provide food for those that are less fortunate than we are.”

Everett Brazil, III is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic