Scott Milliken has seen a lot of people come through the doors at the Father English Center’s food pantry during his years as CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, but not like the numbers since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March.
The director of food pantries for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson said the number of people coming for food “is just staggering.” “Throughout the last three months, we have helped more people that any time before in our 80-year history,” Carlos Roldan said in a statement July 13.
Across the country, Catholic dioceses, parishes and other church-run entities say the federal emergency “bridge loans” they applied for and received have helped keep much-needed ministries functioning during this coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn that has resulted.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington provided 800 prepared meals and 800 boxes of groceries to needy families May 19 during a massive distribution at the parking lot of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
The historic Church of the Assumption in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood was one of a number of churches and other buildings that suffered significant damage early March 3 when a tornado cut a swath of destruction through the city that stretched for miles.
Three suspects stole a Meals on Wheels delivery truck operated by Catholic Charities of Brooklyn & Queens in Jamaica on Jan. 29, as seen in the exclusive surveillance video obtained by Currents News. They later crashed the vehicle during a joyride.
The future eight-story, 135-unit building on the corner of Sackman Street will be called the Catholic Charities Loreto Apartments, built on the former site of Brownsville’s Our Lady of Loreto Church.
For Donald Hoffman, mental health is nothing to be ashamed of
Hoffman, an Astoria resident, has struggled with bipolar disorder and depression for most of his life, and since 2013, he has received services from Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens’ (CCBQ) mental health and rehabilitation center in Jackson Heights.
Volunteers from the Diocese of Brooklyn joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and about 300 others on Dec. 14 at Kmart Astor Place in Manhattan to buy Christmas gifts for needy families.
The turkey giveaway, held every year in one parish in Brooklyn and one in Queens, is sponsored by CCBQ and some local businesses. This year, 700 turkeys, canned goods and Thanksgiving meal fixings were distributed to families in need.
