New ministry focuses on feeding the hungry

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Food Outreach Group is a new ministry of Notre Dame Parish in Price. Their main focus is to feed the hungry. The ministry also serves the area of Good Shepherd Parish in East Carbon.

CARBON COUNTY — Food Outreach Group is a new ministry formed by the members of Notre Dame Catholic Parish in Price.

Over the past year, Carbon County has been hit hard by the loss of jobs brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic.

“FOG started last year when we realized that homelessness was not just a situation in Salt Lake City, we had people living in the streets in Price,” said Rosario Cano, a Notre Dame parishioner and Hispanic ministry coordinator.

For many years Cano, a certified lay ecclesial minister, and her family have volunteered by taking food and clothes to those most in need, so when she saw the situation in Price, she brought the issue up with the parish community.

“They immediately put their faith into action,” she said. “One called the health department to obtain permits; another set the contact with the housing authority. ... Everyone, in conjunction with [pastor] Father Arokia Dass, started giving their time, talents and treasures for the new ministry.”

In October members of the Food Outreach Group began preparing homemade food and taking plates of it to Heritage Park in Price every Friday, Cano said.

At first, about 15 meals were served each week. As winter approached, the ministry grew.

“We contacted the housing department and they guided us toward low-income housing. ... We also detected some homebound people, so we started delivering the meals to them,” Cano said.

The group also realized that the Good Shepherd Parish community in East Carbon was suffering, so they started collecting and taking food twice a month to the parish there, where people receive a bag filled with food items.

The Notre Dame community “once more shared their time, talents and treasures,” Cano said.

“With the pandemic our brothers and sisters suffered in Green River too,” said Cano, so FOG volunteers decided to collect food to deliver there the first Sunday of the month; each time there have been 18 boxes of food collected.

“The people have been amazing; there has been an outpouring of donations,” Cano said.

As the time passed and jobs started to open up in Green River the need decreased, but the program is still open to whoever has a need.

“People can contact Good Shepherd and FOG will be there to assist them,” Cano said.

Currently, FOG volunteers prepare more than 50 meals every Friday. The group has three teams: one from the Anglo community, one from the Hispanic community and the third from the parish youth group.

“Fr. Dass is also with the groups every Friday delivering the food,” Cano said.

Next month, the FOG ministry is set to return to serving meals in the park.

“There are many people in this world who go without food. When so much of our food goes to waste, consider how good stewardship practices of your own food habits can benefit others who do not have those same resources,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states, and Cano said that that is one of the goals of FOG.

“We are creating the kingdom of God on earth one step at the time, and feeding the hungry is a step toward the right direction,” she said.

“The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone,” Pope Francis said during a homily for the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis. He continued on to say that the powerful “will face God’s judgment; they will have to answer for their care of the poor and the environment (or lack thereof).”