Villa Food Drive–St. Francis House!

This is a brief summary of how good things can happen when people communicate and work as a team. When it all comes together, it is a remarkable thing. We just had one of those on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. Here is the story.

It started with the outreach coordinator at St. Bridget Catholic church in Seattle contacting St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) about a food drive being done by the sixth-grade students at Villa Academy. We said we would definitely accept the donation.

We learned several days later through a connection that St. Francis House in central Seattle had been burglarized and was worried because they had lost so much. St. Bridget and SVdP leaders agreed that the Villa Food drive items should all go to St. Francis House. (St. Francis House serves hundreds of people every week. No one is turned away.)

And, so began the first leg of the story. On Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, the Villa Academy sixth graders were waiting for the arrival of the SVdP truck. Middle School Humanities Teacher Terri O’Donnell led the students to our truck. The students started to bring bags and boxes of food and it kept coming, and coming, and coming and coming. When completed, all the donations filled three huge metal carts and all of the remaining floor space in a 16 x 20-foot truck (see photos below of the load and the students putting items in the truck).

The second leg of the story began when SVdP arrived at St. Francis House with the donation. (See photos below). They were excited and pleased that members of the community who they know really well, e.g. St. Bridget, Villa Academy Sixth Grade students and their generous parents, and St. Vincent de Paul all came together to help!!! The donation includes cases and cases of non-perishable foods, including cases of peanut butter, soups and fresh vegetables, spaghetti and sauce, and not to mention the diapers and so much more! (The unloading team included neighbors and staff from St. Francis House and staff from SVdP, see photo).

When people ask us how we measure success in our world—this story is one of the yardsticks we will utilize and talk about. This is how the world should work—and it did in this case. Communication and engagement really do work! We are happy to be part of such a giving and collaborative community!