by Katie Patrick
What a joy it was to be at Bountiful Harvest in Hastings—in person! Last Sunday, we celebrated the good work of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska with all of our donors and prayerful supporters from central Nebraska. Having hosted the past two events virtually, I can’t tell you how amazing it was to be with everyone.
For this week’s Messages of Hope article, I have included highlights I shared that evening. Enjoy!
Did you know that in partnership with the Food Bank for the Heartland, CSS Hastings is one of the state’s largest distributors of food to families living in poverty? And it isn’t just nonperishable food; our trucks are delivering fresh meat, dairy, and produce to families who might otherwise not have that healthy and nutritional food.
Now that you know this, you’ll understand why our staff and volunteers get so excited when we purchase a new forklift or a new truck. For one, it means that hopefully our staff and volunteers don’t get stuck en route anymore, but more importantly those purchases tell you about the volume of good work we are able to accomplish with your financial support.
Now about our staff here in Hastings. As a younger executive director, I want to share with you a little secret of why I take so many written and mental notes whenever I come out here to meet with our staff. It’s because they bring so much knowledge and wisdom to the table, when I’m here I’m constantly learning and growing deeper in my understanding of our communities in central Nebraska and what their needs are.
I’m thankful to Tom, Mary, Susan, Mike, Neil, Sandy, Susan, Anne, Diana, Chris, Isaac, Judy, John, and all of our amazing volunteers for being such incredible witnesses—for showing me everyday how just loving our Lord translates into being true servants of the poor. I’m also inspired by the recipients of our Love of Christ award, Roy and Charlene, who were honored during the evening.
For those of you who read our newsletter earlier this month, it talks about St. Thérèse of Lisieux. St. Therese has a very special place in my heart and I quite often invoke her intercession. We chose her as the confirmation saint of my daughter Imogen who we lost in 2020, and my niece who passed away in 2016 was named after St. Thérèse.
But the one thing that I love most about St. Thérèse, is that having never left France, she is the patron saint of missions. To me, that’s an incredible testament of how God works. Of how He makes the impossible, possible and the ordinary, extraordinary. St. Thérèse never had to leave her home to change the world. And like St. Thérèse, we can all do extraordinary work right here, right now. If you have given financially or prayed for CSS and those we serve including the refugee and the immigrant. If you’ve prayed for the woman fleeing domestic violence or for the single parent struggling to make ends meet, you are already doing the extraordinary. Thank you and May God bless you!
To view our year-end video about our work in Hastings, visit www.csshope.org.
