Thursday evenings are full of activity at Saint Leo the Great Parish in San Jose, but they weren’t always that way. When Fr. Steve Kim came to the parish, he wanted to offer free hot meals for people in need. The parish wasn’t currently offering a program like that, and according to Fr. Steve, it did not take off. “I basically had to beg people to come,” he recalls. But Fr. Steve did not give up. He knew that there were food-insecure people living in his community and he was determined to help them.
With a group of dedicated volunteers and a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, St. Leo Parish kicked off a drive-through food distribution program amid the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a modestly attended drive-through has transformed into a bustling farmer’s market-style event. “We adopted the farmer’s market model because we didn’t want to give people boxes of pre-selected food that they may or may not eat,” said Fr. Steve. “We want people to pick the food they actually want so that there is less waste. And we feel that offering options provides more dignity to our patrons.”
The parish hosts this event every Thursday evening. Thanks primarily to word-of-mouth marketing, they now provide food to close to 200 people each week.
The event has expanded beyond just fresh produce. Second Harvest also provides individually packaged hot meals. Over the past two years, they have distributed about 14,000 hot meals at this event. The parish also partners with the Gardner Health Services Mobile Clinic which comes every week to provide medical services to anyone who needs them. Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County sets up a table each week to provide information about their rental assistance program, which is in high demand. Pro bono immigration services and legal information are also available every week.
Fr. Steve isn’t stopping here; he has plans to expand the event further. He would like to offer educational programs and asks patrons what topics they are interested in – from ESL to parenting to counseling and more.
This year, the Foundation provided St. Leo Parish with a grant to support the infrastructure of this program so that it can expand to meet the needs of this community. The grant came from the Spring Grant Cycle, specifically the endowment for Parish Outreach programs.
To support programs like this one, give to your local parish or donate to the Foundation’s Parish Outreach Endowment.