Church Donates to Warming House
When Fr. James Vacco, O.F.M., learned of the need for more meat products at the Warming House soup kitchen in Olean, he turned to parishioners at St. John’s Church.
They responded with donations totaling $2,500, enough to put meat on the Warming House table for the next four or five months.
“Their generosity is overwhelming, it’s a dream come true,” said Trevor Thompson, director of the Warming House, which has operated as an outreach/service ministry of St. Bonaventure University since 1974 and is believed to be the oldest student-run soup kitchen in the nation.
Fr. James, an instructor in St. Bonaventure’s Clare College and administrator of St. John’s Parish, asked parishioners to donate to the meat fund as a Lenten sacrificial offering. Some 100 “Meat The Need” envelopes were picked up by parishioners.
“Perhaps they gave up purchasing a cup of coffee at work and placed that money in the ‘Meat The Need’ envelope instead,” said Fr. James. “It all adds up.”
But no one expected it to add up to so much.
“When the secretary at the church counted the returned envelopes on the Monday of Holy Week I was elated,” said Fr. James.
Most donations to the Warming House are canned or non-perishable food items, said Thompson, estimating it costs anywhere from $25 to $40 per day to put meat on the table.
He attended Masses at St. John’s last weekend to thank the parishioners.
They responded with donations totaling $2,500, enough to put meat on the Warming House table for the next four or five months.
“Their generosity is overwhelming, it’s a dream come true,” said Trevor Thompson, director of the Warming House, which has operated as an outreach/service ministry of St. Bonaventure University since 1974 and is believed to be the oldest student-run soup kitchen in the nation.
Fr. James, an instructor in St. Bonaventure’s Clare College and administrator of St. John’s Parish, asked parishioners to donate to the meat fund as a Lenten sacrificial offering. Some 100 “Meat The Need” envelopes were picked up by parishioners.
“Perhaps they gave up purchasing a cup of coffee at work and placed that money in the ‘Meat The Need’ envelope instead,” said Fr. James. “It all adds up.”
But no one expected it to add up to so much.
“When the secretary at the church counted the returned envelopes on the Monday of Holy Week I was elated,” said Fr. James.
Most donations to the Warming House are canned or non-perishable food items, said Thompson, estimating it costs anywhere from $25 to $40 per day to put meat on the table.
He attended Masses at St. John’s last weekend to thank the parishioners.
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