

He gave volunteers instructions on how to pack the meals, an eight-step process that requires eight participants per table. Gustavo Cruz, of Miami, was part of the Cross Catholic Outreach team. While 36,000 of the meals are headed to Guatemala and Haiti, 4,000 remained in Baltimore, as they were donated to St. The meals included beans, rice, and macaroni and cheese. “They’re not on a sustainable diet – not getting the calories they need to sustain a healthy lifestyle.” “We say it’s transforming communities,” said Terry Waters, state program director for the Maryland Council of the Knights of Columbus, who noted that many recipients of the outreach are malnourished. Volunteers prepare food packages for those in need during an April 10 gathering at Columbus Gardens in Perry Hall. You really are showing the love of Jesus – showing the joy of Christ.”Ĭross Catholic Outreach, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has given more than $3 billion in aid toward food, medical supplies, teachers’ salaries and water projects in developing countries since its founding in 2001. “We’re just overwhelmed by your generosity.

“The joy that you guys provided, the faith that you show, the service that you send, is just amazing,” said Sandi Pino, a senior director for Cross Catholic Outreach. When it was time to get to work, Cross Catholic Outreach supplied instructions and background on its mission. Volunteers, who would have been restricted by more prohibitive pandemic guidelines just weeks earlier, seemed to enjoy the time to socialize and talk.

More people are coming in and signing at the door, so we’re doing great.”įellow Knights came from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “I was worried we weren’t going to get enough volunteers. “Cross Catholic is the one that sponsors everything,” said Paul Messina, a parishioner of Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City and member of its Knights of Columbus Resurrection Council 11341. The event was under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus and Cross Catholic Outreach, a Catholic organization that seeks to stamp out hunger and other social needs wherever it finds them.īy one count as volunteers signed in, there were 130 participants at Columbus Gardens, off Belair Road. More than 100 volunteers jumped into production lines to package 40,000 meals. PERRY HALL – Catholics from across the region came together in northeast Baltimore County April 10 to prepare food for tens of thousands of children and their families in need. Paul Messina, a parishioner of Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City and member of its Knights of Columbus Resurrection Council 11341, was among 130 volunteers who helped package food shipment for those in need April 10 at Columbus Gardens in Perry Hall.
