The parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. held a "Global Meals for the Hungry" event on March 26 to benefit those in need in Puerto Rico.

Cynthia Battle, the Director of Faith Formation at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and coordinator for the Global Meals drive, assisted in the genesis of the project.  The Global Meals fundraising effort commenced on the first Sunday of Advent.

The Advent/Lenten service project, which took place in the parish’s Panorama Room, hosted 178 volunteers. Battle said this effort was multigenerational, with the volunteers ranging from 10 years old up to her 93-year-old mother.

“It’s important that we live the word of God, not just read about it,” Battle said.

Starting at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, volunteers signed in and were asked to watch a training video. 

Although the group’s goal was to fill and package 35,000 rice meals, they well surpassed that goal as ultimately 55,000 meals were packed. Their assembly line also proved to be more efficient than they anticipated and the group had finished packing before noon. According to Battle, each meal costs around 30 cents to make. These rice meals include shelf-stable vegetables, fortified vitamins, and a soy mixture.  

Battle connected Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish with the No Child Hungry organization for assistance in coordinating the meal preparation. She was interested in this group because they work at a global level, and she wanted to focus on Puerto Rico.

“What we noticed, as you look around, there’s lots of things going to Haiti, other places, but Puerto Rico seems to be the forgotten group of people that are not being reached out to,” Battle said. “I’m not saying they’re not, but you don’t hear a lot about it. They’re still very poor.”

The U.S. territory currently has a poverty rate of 44% and would have received funding through President Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation, according to Bloomberg Business. The House of Representatives passed that legislation, but it has stalled in the U.S. Senate.  

A couple of members from the parish along with their pastor, Josephite Father Michael Thompson, will travel to Puerto Rico to hand meals out. 

“When we finished packing the meals, it’s a humongous thing,” Battle said. “The boxes are stacked on top of one another, they wrap them on skids, they load them on the truck, those boxes are ready to be shipped, and then [No Child Hungry] drives them back down to Orlando, which is where the group comes from.” 

Then, No Child Hungry will coordinate with the parish to know when the goods will be shipped to Puerto Rico.

Battle said initially the project was not well received by everyone in her parish. 

“We started out getting a lot of pushback from people in the beginning because they were saying, ‘You know, we got hungry people right here in the United States, we got hungry people right here in Ward Eight’,” Battle said. “I was saying, ‘That’s true, you’re absolutely right.”

Battle explained that this project is supplemental to the services the parish already has in place and offers regularly to the local community in that part of Washington. 

“We have a pantry every Thursday, Martha’s Table is down the street doing all the work that they’re doing to help people. We’re not saying we’re doing this in lieu of that, we’re saying we’re doing this in addition to that,” Battle said.

Meal prep attendees included Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioners, members from other churches including St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Capitol Heights, families, and students from schools including the Washington School for Girls and Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland. 

Those participating in the “Global Meals for the Hungry" effort at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, included youth in their parish religious education program. Those students, ranging from six to 10 years old, also raised $1,600 through their popcorn fundraiser and also packed the thank-you bags for the volunteers. 

COVID safety measures were taken to protect volunteers. Helpers were required to show official proof of vaccinations and required to wear protective equipment, which included not only masks and gloves, but hairnets as well. 

“The best thing about it was that everybody had such a good time doing it,” Battle said. “Afterwards, [volunteers] were saying things about how good it made them feel that they were helping people they didn’t even know.”

When asked if she wants to organize another drive, Battle said, “Yes…Let me get some sleep first.”