Live on CFN: Faith in Action at St. Frances de Chantal in Wantagh

The Parish Social Ministry outreach at St. Frances de Chantal went live on Catholic Faith Network November 6 as CFN correspondent Jackie Lukas visited the Wantagh parish to speak with PSM director Ele Ruth Melendez and to see how Thanksgiving food donations are shaping up.

Melendez showed CFN cameras around her PSM offices where the food pantry and donation boxes were filling up three weeks ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Parishioners decorate Thanksgiving giving boxes where they stack meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for families inside and outside the parish.

“I say I need, and they respond,” said Melendez in describing the generosity of parishioners of St. Frances de Chantal, where Father Seth Awo Doku is pastor.

Catholic Charities of Long Island was well represented on CFN by CEO Mike Smith, Parish Social Ministry director Gena McSorley and Communications and Development director Danielle Campbell. There were two live “hits” from St. Frances de Chantal during this morning’s CFN Live show.

Jackie Lukas emphasized the “faith in action” steps being taken around her. Two Knights of Columbus from the local council could be seen packing hams into a shopping cart for the holiday.

Smith noted that the activity at St. Frances de Chantal is being mirrored at PSM offices in 100 parishes across Long Island. He stressed that parishioners don’t make up the entire population PSM serves. “It’s not just the parish, it’s the entire community,” he told Lukas.

The long government shutdown in Washington is putting “an extra strain on the system,” Smith said, making food donations parishioners bring to their local churches and monetary gifts contributed to Catholic Charities of Long Island even more vital.

People arriving at Parish Social Ministry outreach looking for food assistance may have more “complicated cases” involving mental illness and addiction issues, McSorley said. Her office at Catholic Charities offers training and support to the PSM “network of hope” operating in parishes all across Long Island.

When Lukas suggested that some parishes not currently offering Parish Social Ministry outreach might want to contact Catholic Charities of Long Island, McSorley readily agreed.

“They can call me, and I will be happy to set it up,” she said.