St. Anne Community Outreach going strong in 35th year

The young boy grabbed a frozen pizza out of a cart and ran.

"He was holding it tightly," recalled James Harris. "Nobody was going to get it away from him."

It was not a theft. The pizza was a portion of the food being given to the child's family at the St. Anne Community Outreach Center in Columbus.

"It is moments like that when you see how much the food we give means to these families," Harris said. "That makes me glad I volunteer here."

Long before he began volunteering, Harris knew how much it meant to a person in crisis to receive help. That's because there was a time when he came to St. Anne Outreach needing assistance.

"The way they treated me, well, you could tell this was more than a formality for the workers," he said. "They were very sensitive to my situation."

St. Anne Community Outreach, a mission of St. Anne Catholic Church, is currently celebrating its 35th anniversary.

Harris, 52, is not a member of the church, but eight months ago he began volunteering because he believes it is important to do mission work.

St. Anne Community Outreach began in fall 1980 when church parishioners decided to have a canned food drive.

Over the next 35 years, three different buildings have housed the mission, and it has expanded from a handful of workers to about 90.

The first location was in the church rectory. The second was in a small house near the church. The current building was built and put into use five years ago. It is located behind the church off Box Road.

The church got the land on which it stands from the Knights of Columbus. Money remaining from a church capital campaign financed construction.

The center is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and serves about 400 families per month.

Katie Byers has been director of the program for four years and was a volunteer for eight years before that. She said moving into the current building allowed St. Anne Community Outreach to double the number of families it could help.

No matter the building, the program's primary purpose has remained the same, to provide assistance to those in crisis.

Last year, 3,821 families received groceries and 5,519 individuals were provided clothing.

People also received help with rent and utility payments. The program provides hygiene products and household items to families.

Sister Margaret Downing recalled one family that was living in an apartment and had no furniture or appliances.

"It was a domestic violence situation," she said. "We got them some basic necessities. We also got them a microwave and found some chairs."

Byers said more than 20 community partners donate food or funds on a regular basis.

She said careful management of financial assets, utilization of Feeding the Valley Food Bank and participation in the USDA commodities program and the Georgia GNAP program allow St. Anne to provide a week of groceries to an individual for $4.64.

Students at St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School help, too. Each month, students collect a particular item and donate it. This week, the students brought thousands of pairs of socks to a sock hop held on the school's football field.

St. Anne Community Outreach has developed relationships with agencies and organizations such as the Department of Family and Children Services, Adult Protective Services, Homeless Resource Network, Muscogee County Schools and the American Red Cross. This year, it became a community partner with the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley.

Mildred Hagadorn, 85, a church parishioner, has been a volunteer with the program for about 25 years. She had done similar work in Birmingham, Ala., and continued at St. Anne when she moved to Columbus. She handles paperwork for clients.

"I enjoy working with the people," Hagadorn said. "It is a bad time for them and we are helping them get through it. People are so grateful."

Jeremiah McCarthy, the pastor of St. Anne, is proud of the work being done.

In a letter to church members, McCarthy said that in the outreach ministry, they see, lived out in a very practical manner, the church's mission of stewardship, of what it is to share with the less fortunate whether it is time, talents or treasure.

"The Gospels remind us that it is in serving the needs of the poor we serve Christ himself. What a blessing this ministry is to our parish as a place to encounter the Lord in the different disguises Jesus presents and prompts our love and generosity. The Gospel tells us, we will be judged by God on our charity, on how we have loved our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest and neediest," McCarthy wrote.

He quoted Pope Francis who said, "the measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty."

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 10:44 PM with the headline "St. Anne Community Outreach going strong in 35th year ."