Story by Reagan Scott
LINCOLN (SNR) - This school year, Catholic Social Services (CSS), in partnership with the Food Bank of Lincoln, has set up the Catholic School Food Market Program at Blessed Sacrament, St. Teresa and St. Patrick schools in Lincoln.
Once a month, families have the opportunity to select from a wide variety of perishable and non-perishable items to take home, regardless of income level.
The program has been in place for over a month already, with more than 100 families, or 500 individuals, impacted already.
For many years Catholic Social Services partnered with the Food Bank of Lincoln to provide students from low-income families with food to take home each weekend as part of the BackPack Program. What CSS and the schools discovered was that students might be sent home with food that their families didn’t eat, or couldn’t have because of allergies or other reasons.
Katie Hile, the regional director of social services for CSS said that in order to serve families in need in a way that shows dignity and compassion, many food banks have been switching to a food market model, allowing those in need to select food for themselves. The St. Francis Food Pantry in Lincoln transitioned to this model in June.
Hile said that when CSS discovered that the Food Bank of Lincoln had set up a Food Market program for Lincoln Public Schools, they desired to bring the same concept to Catholic grade schools in Lincoln.
Now, Catholic Social Services brings food markets to Blessed Sacrament the first Tuesday of the month, St. Teresa on the second and St. Patrick on the third. The market is open from 3 to 4 p.m.
“It’s been very great, and very well received by students and parents,” Jeremy Sousek, the volunteer coordinator for CSS said.
On each food market day, Catholic Social Services picks up food from the Food Bank of Lincoln and sets it up at the school. Families receive a list of items they are able to choose from, enough food to last about a week.
“If we can take away one week of groceries, [families] can use that money for other needs,” Kristen Placek, the principal at St. Patrick school, said.
Sousek, Hile and Placek said that one of the most exciting things about the Food Market program is that families are able to take fresh produce home, which hadn’t been an option with the BackPack Program.
When the first market was held at St. Patrick School last month, Placek was struck by how excited one of the students was that there were fresh bananas available to take home.
The Food Market also has fresh bread, toiletry items, paper products and even milk vouchers. Sousek said that students at Blessed Sacrament were abuzz Nov. 5, because the Food Bank had included cakes in its food provided.
Another unique aspect of the Catholic School Food Market Program is that there are no requirements that a family needs to meet to be eligible, beyond that of having a student at the school. The BackPack Program, in contrast, had requirements that a family had to meet first to be part of the program.
Hile said the program is also a great way for Catholic Social Services to get out in the community and let families know what other resources they have available.
While the Food Market program is relatively new, stakeholders have been encouraged by the results.
“We have had families come by who are so thankful,” Placek said. “We definitely want to continue to encourage our school families to come.”
For now, the goal of the program is to reach as many families in need as possible, while serving them in a way that is respectful of their life experiences.
Sousek said, “The goal of serving people is to serve them with dignity, to love people as best we can and meet their needs to the fullest.”
