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Happening ... in the Local Church
 Mary
Nordenbrock, left, and Barb Day organize the Caring Hearts Ministry at
St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Peru. (Photo by Hilary Schafer) |
By Hilary Schafer
For
The
Catholic Moment
PERU — For more than 15 years, St. Charles Borromeo Parish has offered funeral dinners free of charge to any parish family that has lost a loved one.
The Caring Hearts Ministry was begun by Sister Rosita Gentille, a Sister of Providence who served the parish for 17 years. It is now organized by parishioners Barb Day and Mary Nordenbrock, who sometimes arrange a meal for 100 or more people in their free time.
“Sister Rosita was diagnosed with kidney cancer about 15 years ago,” Day explained, “and she called me to her bedside at the hospital and asked me to take it over.”
Day, who had helped Sister Rosita for approximately five years, has been organizing the dinners ever since. She is a lifelong parishioner of St. Charles.
A few years after Sister Rosita died, Day enlisted the help of Mary Nordenbrock, a parishioner since 1972.
Day and Nordenbrock had benefited from Caring Hearts when members of their own families died, and so they were happy to contribute.
Any family of St. Charles that loses a loved one is offered a dinner for friends and loved ones in the parish gym.
“The meals are like a pitch-in,” Day said. She keeps a list of all the parishioners willing to cook. Once she gets a call, she rotates through the names.
“I try not to ask people twice in a row,” she said.
Volunteers usually have their choice of preparing a meat dish, a hot side dish, a salad or a dessert. They deliver their food items to the gym during the funeral, so meals are hot and ready when the funeral is over.
Day and Nordenbrock are always on call.
“My funeral dinners come first,” Day said. The women often spend four hours of their day making sure every dinner goes according to plan.
“We’ve never run out of food yet,” Day said, “although we’ve come close!”
The number of dinners needed is unpredictable: The parish has gone three months without a funeral, and at other times there can be several within one week.
Day still remembers the biggest funeral meal. “We planned for 300 … but ended up serving about 150.”
They will organize a dinner for only five people, if asked, she said; no request is ever refused.
“People will just thank us and thank us and thank us,” Day said, “and they usually compliment us on the food. Also, most people simply do not have the capacity in their homes to host so many people, or the time to think about preparing a meal. For many, this is really the last opportunity they have to bring the whole family together.”
Caring Hearts packages the leftovers and sends them home with the family.
Parishioner Mary Ellen Hoagland volunteered for years, and still donates food. When she lost three family members in 15 months, Caring Hearts was there to help.
“It is really a God-send,” she said. “I did not have to worry about anything, and the ministry was a great support. You’re not thinking about food when you are grieving.”
Caring Hearts is a great way to get involved in the Church, she said, and to give something back to the parish.
“These women provide a wonderful behind-the-scenes type of ministry for those who really need it,” pastor Father Frank Kilcline said. “Caring Hearts Ministry has provided a meal and a place for many years to those who really need to spend some time with one another as family and friends after a funeral for a loved one.”
“We have super volunteers,” Day said. “I tell them that there is nothing we do that we could do without them. We need them. If you didn’t have the volunteers, it would be a hard job.”
“Sister Rosita even made a list of how many dishes to make, according to the number of people attending the dinner,” Nordenbrock said. “So it is very organized and planned out.”
“I grew up in a big family,” Day said, “and this is just like throwing a big pitch-in, which makes it easier.”
The Caring Hearts Ministry never asks for donations or payments. It gives any funds it receives to the parish’s Altar and Rosary Society or the Daughters of Isabella. If Caring Hearts needs reimbursement for paper goods, plastics, coffee, or meat and cheese, those groups assist.
Parishioners Cathy Brooks, Ann Long and Judy Maggart are among those who help with Caring Hearts, but Day and Nordenbrock said more volunteers are needed.
“It is such a rewarding ministry,” Day said. “There are many families who you don’t know what to say to or do for, but this is one last thing we can offer for the person who is gone. I can’t picture the church without it.”
“Any parish that has such a group is very blessed,” Father Kilcline said. “I know we feel very fortunate to have such a group here and the space in which to do this.”
Anyone interested in helping with Caring Hearts Ministry should call Day at 765-985-2792.