Ministries of Mercy - Food & Clothing at 6363 9th Avenue North, Saint Petersburg, FL 33710 US - People Helping People

l-r Marie Russell, a volunteer from St. Thomas Catholic Church, and Deacon Richard Meyer, director of Daystar Life Center. Marie helps sort clothes and assist people in the Daystar Life Center thrift store; a food and clothing ministry of St. Benedict Catholic Church.

In 2006, Bishop Robert N. Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg began the Ministries of Mercy initiative to support and foster parish ministries that serve the poor, suffering, and marginalized. The initiative focuses on five areas where the need is the greatest: food & clothing, shelter, life, visitation, and health. With the help of volunteers, the Ministries of Mercy are currently serving in various parishes. The following story highlights Daystar Life Center, a food and clothing ministry of St. Benedict Catholic Church.

Daystar Life Center was established in 1983 by Father James Hoge then pastor of the parish. He opened the center because he identified a need in Citrus County to provide food and clothing to the needy. Today, the center has a food pantry, a thrift store, and provides financial assistance with utility shut-off notices, eviction and foreclosure notices, and prescriptions.

In 2009, the center gave out more than 300,000 lbs of food via its food pantry. People received cereal, beans, rice, canned vegetables, pasta, frozen chicken and turkeys. “We were able to provide more than 300 families with turkeys last year,” Deacon Richard Meyer, director of the center, said. “We stored the turkeys in a commercial size freezer that we purchased with donated funds and assembled with the help of volunteers.”

One of those volunteers is Sherry Arnell who has helped at the center for the last 11 years. Her job is to interview clients to determine the type of assistance the center can provide them. Jane and Tom are two of her clients in need. “I get food stamps but I do not know if they will be coming this month because I just renewed them,” Jane said. “I make $350.00 every two weeks and it’s not enough to make ends meet.” Tom said he has been looking for work in the newspapers but has not been successful. Sherry provides them with a food voucher to the pantry and suggests where Tom can continue to look for work.

The center also operates a thrift store. Clothing is given to people in need and is sold to pay for the center’s programs and operating expenses. The store’s clothing is from individuals and the churches of St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Our Lady of Fatima. Volunteers donate their time each week to fold, organize, and price the clothing. “I donate my time in the thrift store because I know I am helping people,” said Barbara Mcnulty, a parishioner of St. Scholastica Catholic Church in Lecanto.

Gloria Nolan has volunteered at the center for six years helping clients in crisis situations get financial assistance with utility shut-off notices, eviction and foreclosure notices, and prescriptions. Her client, Sarah, a single mother of a four month old, needs help with an electric bill. “I take care of my son, my sister’s two children under the age of five, and do not receive child support. I have a job and receive food stamps but things have been very tight,” she says. “It’s rough and I don’t get much sleep.” Gloria listens while she fills out paperwork for the center to help pay a small portion of the bill.

Deacon Meyer says the center does what it can to help people like Sarah get back on their feet. “We help people who need food, clothing and financial services, we are there for the ones that need someone to listen, and we find ways to help them help themselves.” He said the center could not operate without the volunteers who donate their time each week.

To read about other food and clothing ministries, the Ministries of Mercy, and to find a ministry near you in need of donations and volunteers, cick here.

*The names of certain people in this article were changed in an effort to protect the confidentiality of the clients of the center.

Deacon Richard Meyer is the director of Daystar Life Center, a food and clothing ministry of St. Benedict Catholic Church.