St. Lucy Project collects a record 20,000 lbs. for the needy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 20, 2017

ARLINGTON, Va. – On Sunday, November 19th, St. Lucy Project, a food distribution project with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, collected an estimated 20,000 lbs. of food. The food came from four parishes which had conducted drives that weekend:  St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon; St. Rita Catholic Church in Alexandria; St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church in Fairfax; and Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria. 

The 20,000 lbs. of food will be distributed to 1,000 people each month.

The collection Sunday coincided with the first ‘World Day of the Poor,’ instituted by Pope Francis, who calls for a deep solidarity with the poor and a culture of encounter which leads seeing the poor as friends, and not strangers.

“It is also important to remember that, though 20,000 pounds of food sounds like a lot, this food will be gone before Christmas. Hunger is a year-round problem,” says Patricia Kuntz, Outreach Specialist for the St. Lucy Project.

St. Lucy Project (the warehouse in located in Manassas) was created to serve the more than 236,000 persons living in the area who do not have access to enough food to sustain an active, healthy life for all members of their household, or do not know with certainty when they will have access to nutritionally adequate food.