More than 300 families received donated clothes and other goods at a special Saturday morning parish swap meet in Wilmington last month.
“This was a way to help struggling families in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods,” said Father Claude Williams, O. Pream., pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church.
The Feb. 19 event was the brainchild of Debbi Drewry, a parishioner at American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach who approached Father Williams in early January with the idea of partnering with Sts. Peter and Paul Church to provide a distribution center in the parish community.
The consequences of the pandemic have not been easy on parish families, many of whom live below the poverty line, Father Williams said.
“The past two years of Covid have hit our Wilmington community really hard in different ways, but we have also seen God’s faithfulness in these difficult times and how generous God’s people are with each other,” said Father Williams.
Some of that generosity was on display that Saturday morning. Drewry, who recently launched a nonprofit, “Deb’s Donations Inc.,” coordinated the gathering and distribution of clothing and other goods in Sts. Peter and Paul’s parking lot.
With the help of volunteers from St. Eugene Church in South LA and American Martyrs Church, a truckload of new and lightly used clothes was distributed within hours to visitors who were only charged a $1 entrance fee.
“There are many generous people in our community who are ready to share, but often these same people don’t always know where or how to give their particularly nice things,” said Drewry.
The above comes from a March 3 story in Angelus News.
I wish we could thumbs up or down articles. This one would be a big thumbs up!
300 families received clothes … What does that say about our country? Why does anyone have to go without the basics of life, food, shelter, and clothing in the richest country in the world? Our oligarchs are keeping too much for themselves, maybe?
Or you’ll never lack for people willing to take a handout even if they don’t need it. Put out a craig’s list ad saying you’re giving away your furniture for free and watch how fast people will show up at your door.
I get from where you come, but it’s a rather cynical (and may I add, somewhat non-Catholic) view of our fellow human beings. Are there those who would just like to simply live life (if one can call it living) simply taking hand outs, doing nothing but expecting something akin to a life based on an “I have rights” paradigm? Likely, but not in the numbers you project and I suspect believe. The opposite may be true at veteran Shake Downs, where local communities provide urgent dental and medical care, job opportunities, mental health help,haircuts, clothes, food, etc., for those veterans in need. It’s hard to get some to go because of their pride, their sense of trying to pull themselves up by their boot straps.
So, did you donate clothes, time or treasure (ie donate money) to either?
Bob One, you should get out there and find out. In my experience, most of it is mental illness or addiction, women who cannot afford childcare so they cannot work and were abandoned by the father of the children, people recently released from jail, people who have worn their families out by asking for too much. Sometimes it is working people who do not make enough for all their needs.
Also, high medical bills after illness or accident and chronic disability and illness.
This is America. We are supposed to be the greatest nation on earth if you believe our proclamations. There should be work for everyone that pays a living wage which is at least $36K per year. No person should go hungry or not have a home. No person should ever have to worry about healthcare. These are all human rights. All kids should have the opportunity to have a good education no matter their race or ethnic origin. Until we get to that point, we are not meeting our goal as a nation and we lie to ourselves.
Go for it.
Let us know how we can help.
36k per year is poverty in California and a lot of other places.