St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen

FOR I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME FOOD. I WAS THIRSTY AND YOU GAVE ME DRINK. Matthew 25:35

Monthly serving counts: Family Individuals

June 2017 3,125 12,500(serving 22 days) July. 2017 2,934 11,736 (serving 20 days)

Aug. 2017 3,809 15,236(serving 23 days) Sept. 2017 3,331 13,324 (serving 20 days)

TOTALS COUNTS: 13,199 family ct.

52,796 individ. ct.

IMPORTANT FACT: Each sack feeds

a family of 4

Issue #25 October 2017

Love Kitchen serving up smiles 2

Ed Boes– a friendly face at the window Standard Rule of Thumb

6

What’s cooking? “CHILI”

6-7

Don’t children say the darnest things?

6 Fill up the oil and check the gas !

Jacob Semonis-Purdue student

Fill up the oil and check the gas !Fill up the oil and check the gas !Fill up the oil and check the gas !Online Giving now available

Students from Franciscan School of Nursing

Upgrades to Surplus Food Store steps...

3 3 4 5

7

2

Holidays are just around the corner

I can’t speak for anyone else but I would like to ask a simple question? Where on earth has this year gone? “Time flies”, is an understatement at the very least.

With that statement said, I would like to expand up-on the fact that the holiday season is barreling down upon us. The weather has turned chilly, night falls sooner. People have started arriving at the soup kitchen with jackets on. Seasons are changing.

The October newsletter is where I hope to appeal to your generosity. Year after year, we come forward asking for help, without your generous help it would not be possible for us to continue our missions for very long. We do not get government subsidies (money) during the year, so your unselfish donations are used 100% to serve the needy, the poor and the marginalized.

Suggestions on items that are needed:

• Frozen turkey, chicken, beef or pork which will be used for soups.

• Boxed mashed potatoes and/or dressings.

• Boxed Mac & Cheese.

• C a n n e d g o o d s ( N O # 1 0 c a n s , please)...vegetables, fruits, canned soups.

• Commercial Bakery items: pies, cookies and cakes and …..monetary donations are always accepted. Every donation makes a difference!

Page # 2

Any day is a busy day at the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. However, the day gets a lot more busy when the Love Kitchen truck pulls into the lot. News travels fast...smiles are on the faces. Who doesn’t like pizza?

The Love Kitchen hands people a plate of piping hot pizza. For most, the pizza never makes it home. People sit down and eat their pizza right there.

The Love Kitchen has been com-ing to Soup Kitchen the last sev-eral years—serving up smiles. It is a free service that Little Caesars does to support their communities. Thank you.

Your best efforts at making peace are only as good as the depth of forgiveness in your heart. If you say you forgive one another but hold bit-terness and a grudge in your heart, you have not forgiven.

This is how Satan manipulates politics to his advantage. You can be wise as to the attitudes of others, but to love is to learn to work around personality con-flicts—all the while forgiving your brother’s weakness. For-giveness is the basis of unity. Unity is the foundation of strength. Satan does not want Truth to be a strong and decid-ing force in the world. There-fore, he creates situations which feed on unforgiveness.

Each one of us was created to embrace the Truth. We will only find peace in doing so. In this world of so much unrest, let us all strive to work toward peace in our hearts first, then outwardly towards others.

Love Kitchen serving up smiles!

It is always our inten-tion to keep the soup kitchen windows open each day, unfortunate-ly, from time to time Mother Nature changes our minds. A rule has been established for our volunteers and cli-ents of St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. If the Lafa-yette School Corpora-tion has a two-hour de-lay or schools are closed due to incum-bent weather, then the soup kitchen will also be closed for that given day. Tune into the lo-cal news for daily up-dates when questions arise. Steve Schilling-Manager

STANDARD RULE OF THUMB

Page # 3

CHILI SOUP serves: 8

2 pounds of ground beef

1/2 large onion-chopped

3 T. Chili powder

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

2 (15 oz.) cans chili beans

2 small cans, chili sauce

2 (15 oz.) cans, diced toma-toes

Brown ground beef along with the chopped onions and personal seasonings. Cook until done, drain.

Add all above ingredients into a crock pot, cook on slow for 3-4 hours, letting it simmer.

Thanks Peg for serving up “smiles” and soup.

What’s cookin’

in Peggy’s corner?

Ed spent time volunteering at the soup kitchen this fall for a Ministry of Charity. I asked Ed for his in-sight on working at the soup kitchen.

Ed wrote, “My time spent helping at St. Matthew’s Care and Share Soup Kitchen was very enlightening and rewarding. I learned quite a bit about people who request help from the Soup Kitchen. For some the challenge of life has taken its toll. Some were unreachable, but some were open and just needed some-one to listen for a little while or needed a smile and a kind word. Others needed a hat for winter or a simple can opener to open some of the cans of food we had given them. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of clients who would say, “I don’t need a can of corn to-day. I have a couple of cans at home. Save it for someone else who needs it.” I was humbled to encounter that attitude. I marveled that those people would share what they could have had, when they had

so little.”

Sandy McMahon worked on Mon-day with Ed at the service window. She said, “Ed had a great rapport with those who came to the window. He really did see Jesus in each one of our clients. It was obvious by his actions that he has a strong desire to serve others and is very open to where God sends him”.

Steve Schilling, soup kitchen manag-er stated, “Ed was willing to do whatever he was asked to do. Ed has a knack of seeing things that need to be done. Ed would replen-ish the food on the table before it was asked for making it so much more simpler to run smoothly. Ed is quite the story teller-he loves to share memories about his family and experience.

Schilling also said, “There was a void on Monday mornings at the windows after Ed finished his intern-ship. We wish Ed well, it was time well spent, come back any time, Ed!”

has a gentle touch and a

warm heart for our clients at the service window.

Page # 4

Dear God: In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation? Karen

Dear God: Are you really invis-ible or is that just a trick?~Lucy

Dear God: Is it true my father won’t get in Heaven if uses his bowling words in the house? ~Anita

Dear God: Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? ~Patrick

Dear God: Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t You just keep the ones You have now? ~Katie

Dear God: Who draws the lines around the countries? ~Sandy

Dear God: I went to this wed-ding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay? ~Neil

Dear God: What does it mean You are a Jealous God I thought you had everything. ~Alyson

Dear God: Why is it okay for you to know everything I am saying? My momma says it is impolite to listen in on other people’s conversations! ~Greg

Dear God: Did Jesus speak to you after he died? ~Rodger

Dear God: I bet it is very hard for You to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are on-ly 4 people in our family and I can never do it. ~Elliott

Dear God: My brother told me about being born but it doesn’t sound right. They’re just kidding, aren’t they? ~Julianna

Dear God: Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. ~Joshua

Dear God: I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big but not so much hair all over. ~ Samuel

Dear God: Thank you for the ba-by brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. ~Dianna

Dear God: It rained for our whole vacation and was my father mad! He said some things about You that people are not supposed to say, but I hope You will not hurt him anyway. Your friend (but I am not going to tell you who I am, okay.) ~_____X____.

Dear God: Did you mean “do unto other as they do unto you? Because if you did, then I’m going to fix my brother. ~Carlie

Dear God: Why is Sunday school on Sunday? I thought it was sup-posed to be a day of rest! ~Tommy L.

Dear God: Who created you any ways? ~Richard

Holy Humor: Kids say the darnest things! Dear God…..

posed to be a day of rest!

Dear God: I am American. What are you? ~Robert

Dear God: I wonder sometimes if we give you headaches? ~Jackson

Dear God: If I come back as some-thing else, please don’t let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her. ~Ellie

Dear God: I hope you are happy because if not, I won’t be your friend again. ~Maisy

Dear God: If you give me “genie lamp” like Aladdin, I will give you anything you want except my mon-ey or my chess set. ~Raphael

Dear God: We read that Thomas Edison made light. You did that! So I bet he stole your idea. Sin-cerely, Avery

Dear God: My mommy told me that you made vegetables. I think you failed your course. ~Taylor

Dear God: Please send Dennis Carter to a different camp this year. ~Peter

Dear God: The preacher said you have your fingers in everyone’s pie? I get growled at when I have sticky fingers, why don’t you? ~Alena

Bob Rohrman, is a local business man and owner of Rohrman Auto Sales and a parishioner of St. Ann Church. He saw a need for a van for picking up donations for the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. So, in 2003, Mr. Rohrman donated a van for their needs in the Soup Kitchen. There have been many drivers over the years, the van has been driven, repaired, serviced and was at the point, quite simply that the van was simply worn out. In the last 14 years, the miles have piled up on the vehicle, the wear and tear also took toll it’s on this gifted van. In all truth, the Soup Kitchen was in desperate need of a new delivery van. A major tell-tail sign is when you go to the gas station on a reg-ular basis to “fill up on the oil and check on the gas”. Any way you look at it, that is never good thing. Our old van had 177,252 miles on it. The old van was a good van but needed retirement. Again, Mr. Rohrman came to our rescue and of-fered to donate a newer van to the soup kitchen. For the following year a search was made for a new van. It is not a quick process but well worth the time it took for this undertaking. In late July 2017, Mr. Rohrman gifted a 2013 Nissan Cargo van to the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. I asked driver Kevin Cavanaugh if there were many differences between the old and new van. Kevin said, “yes, definitely”. He said that “the old van’s

Page # 5

Accepting the keys to the new Soup Kitchen at the Bob Rohrman Auto Sales. (left to right): Craig Gip-son-Sales Manager, Steve Schilling-Soup Kitchen Manager, Mr. Bob Rohrman, Tom Glover-Soup Kitchen Asst. Manager.

FILL UP THE OIL AND CHECK ON THE GAS !

Blessing of the new van: (left to right): Fr. Dominic Young-pastor, Tom Glover-asst. manager, John Glover-driver, Peg Marvin-cook, Steve Schilling-manager, (not in picture-Kevin Cavanaugh-driver)

air conditioner didn’t work, the windows didn’t work well, there were leaks of gas fumes into the van. In the new van, you can actually talk to each other and hear what the other person is saying. In the old van, the doors, would lock by themselves and the battery was always draining itself and leaving the drivers stranded. So yes, the differences are major and the new van is greatly appreciated. There is also a new sign on the van for the soup kitchen, too. Check us out!

The first van donated to the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup kitchen.

Old 2003 Chevy van

New 2013 Nissan Cargo van

Page # 6

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE - Are you aware that St. Matthew 25 Care and Share, has online giving available for anyone wishing to use this app. It is easy and quick and safe. Go to:

• www.stannlafayette.org

On the front page of the website on the left-hand sidebar (maroon in color) you will see a white box that says: “click here for online giving”. You have the option of donating one time or as fre-quently as you wish.

Are you

aware?

Franciscan School of Nursing encour-ages their nursing students to do com-munity class service by reaching out to others who are in need. (left)-Kristen Louck and (right) Ashley Ferrell are working the first window by handing out food to those who come to St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. The students stated that they enjoyed meeting the people and helping hand out the food. Thank you for your spirit of helping.

During the course of the year, many faces come through the door of the soup who want to help in some sort of capacity. Some stay for a day, others stay longer. Such as the case with Jacob Semonis, he returned several weeks during the sum-mer months working as his schedule al-lowed him to.

Jacob is originally from Warsaw, IN-growing up on a farm; he is an avid hunter, trapper and fisherman. He also been a floating Legislative Intern for the Indiana State senate and enjoyed this job very much. Jacob also volunteers at the Atwood Lyon’s Club.

He lives in West Lafayette and attends Purdue as an Agricultural, Economics and Agronomy student. Interesting fun fact about Jacob, he has a pet-catfish, named Whispers.

Jacob actually found out about the St. Matthew 25 Soup Kitchen from our web-site. Jacob was to observe and, inter-

Jacob Semonis-Purdue student -view for an upcoming project for his Metaculture Awareness Course on pov-erty. He needed to be able to view eco-nomical and generational aspects of the clients who come to the soup kitchen; an in-depth view of what a community can do to help.

What Jacob learned was what the other side of life is about. A perspective on how many people need food. He said it was very rewarding to come. He hopes to return as his schedule allows. You are always welcome, Jacob, any time.

Nurses from St. Francis School of Nursing

(Left to right) Standing: Tom Glover, Asst. Manager, Steve Schilling, Manag-er, John Glover-driver. Sitting: Kevin Cavanaugh-driver, Peg Marvin-cook

2017 Soup Kitchen Staff

Page # 7

Upgrades make steps safer at the

SURPLUS FOOD STORE shorter steps. After the cement was cured, our maintenance man, Jeremy Landes attached sturdy hand rails to the building and to the walkway.

There have been many comments and praise for the new steps at the Surplus Food Store.

Everyone feels safer with the im-provements that were made. Thank you to Andy Wise and your cement crew and to Jeremy Landes for doing a superb job.

no hand railing available to assist people who were going up and down the steps. People’s hands, being full of bags, really made it dangerous to use the steps.

After having the store being open just a few hours it was observed that we had a problem which needed immediate attention, it was a recipe for disaster to happen. The steps were narrow and higher in height than normal, which made maneuvering the steps difficult.

To complicate matters, there was

Until the problem could be fixed, a volunteer stood outside the door to assist people going in and out of the building.

A phone call was made to a local cement business, “Wise Choice” to have them remove the old steps and replace with them wider and

Sabrina Rahman volunteered to help at the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. Sabrina needed com-munity volunteer service hours for the classes that she is taking at Francis-can School of Nursing. Sorting and packing vegetables and lidding soups were some of the many jobs that she did. Thank you for thinking of us and coming down to the soup kitchen to help.

As mentioned in the last soup kitch-en newsletter, we now have a Sur-plus Food Store serving our clients but it is only open when there is an abundance of food that is availa-ble to hand out.

The Surplus Food Store does not have regular days when it is open to our clients, because there is no way of knowing when this extra food will be available.

Issue #25

St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen

612 Wabash Ave. Lafayette, IN

www.stannlafayette.org

What you can do to help the St. Matthew 25 Soup Kitchen?

Volunteering your time-You can volunteer your time to help hand out food for those who come to our window. Help is never turned away. The soup kitchen’s operating hours are 7:00 am to 2:00 pm Monday through Friday. The window is open to the public from 8:30 to11:30 am-Monday through Friday.

Supplies- canned goods, canned green beans, macaroni & cheese, instant potatoes, dressing, bake beans, cranberry sauce, yams, hams & turkeys, fruits are always needed. NO #10 cans. We do have storage areas for your purchases. If you have any questions, please feel free to call & ask. Our phone number is 765-742-2704.

Monetary donations- checks or cash always accepted. If you write a check, it should be made out to the St. Matthew 25 Care & Share Soup Kitchen. Our mailing address is 612 Wabash Ave. Lafayette, IN 47905.

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever

come to you without leaving happiness. Mother Teresa

St. Ann Catholic Church & Shrine

If you make your check out to the St. Ann’s, please make sure you note on the memo line that your donation is to go to the Soup Kitchen. No amount is considered too small, every little bit help us be able to continue our mission work. Thank-you!

Sometimes I believe writing this newsletter is easier than what tasks my proofers are given to do. They have to find my mistakes, they make (many) corrections & then remit it back to me. Sometimes the articles do not come in a timely manner, sometimes they get them all at once. I appreciate their patience & their talent that goes into helping me get the newsletter ready to go. Thanks again, Jane, Rose & Letha. Laraine D. Schilling