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Temperatures were below freezing at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (SEAS) Catholic Church’s monthly food distribution in January. Days like those are hard work for the entirely volunteer-run distribution team, but volunteers say it’s worth it to help their neighbors facing hunger.

“Especially seeing the veterans line up,” explained volunteer Kassi, “Being able to serve those that have served our country, seeing families with children come through – that’s definitely motivation to come out on the hot and cold days.”

One of the veterans who visits the SEAS pantry is Thomas. He served 9 years with the U.S. Army traveling all over the country and the world, and now, his neighbors are serving him in return. He shared that the food helps “a whole lot.”

“A lot of us (veterans) just can’t afford it,” Thomas explained. “We don’t make enough money. Most of us are retired and just living off Social Security. Some of them are injured vets and just living off of veteran pension, and that’s not enough.”

At SEAS, ending hunger for neighbors like Thomas is a community effort. Their food assistance programs are run entirely by volunteers from the church and surrounding neighborhoods. Food for their weekly pantry comes from community donations, and product for monthly distributions comes from Ozarks Food Harvest. As lead volunteer Tom Ryan shared, food from Ozarks Food Harvest is “a big help. It helps us get more food for our dollars.”

On top of volunteers and a partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest, SEAS also works with the Price Cutter across the street to provide gift cards for seniors and families. The extra cash helps families buy ingredients to supplement their pantry boxes and have the dignity of shopping for their own groceries. Since it’s not uncommon for SEAS to serve up to 400 people per month, every volunteer and partnership helps to support families facing hunger with compassion.

While memorable because of the weather, SEAS’s January distribution also marked the opening of their new pavilion designed specifically to help serve their neighbors effectively. The structure is enclosed and climate-controlled to keep volunteers protected rain or shine and keep food safe from the elements while it waits to go to a family facing hunger, and it boasts an awning where neighbors can pull up their car while it’s loaded with groceries.

“We’ve made a strong commitment to helping our neighbors down in this area,” promised Tom. “We recognize that we need a place that we can do this, and that’s one of the reasons we built the pavilion. It’s going to make a lot easier distribution.”

Although shelter made a big difference in keeping volunteers safe and warm, many were still bundled in their warmest coats so they could take food out to neighbors’ cars. It’s clear that SEAS has a generous community of people and organizations at their side to ensure our neighbors have access to the food they need to thrive.

Ozarks Food Harvest congratulates SEAS on their helpful new addition to even better serve our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. We’re grateful to have hard-working, generous organizations like SEAS helping end hunger in Springfield.

To learn more about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church and their work, visit seaschurch.org/helping-neighbors. Thank you to SEAS for your compassion for children, families and seniors facing hunger.