More than 600 families receive food provided by El Pasoans Fighting Hunger every Wednesday at St. Luke Catholic Church in Westside El Paso.

Father Marcus McFadin, D.Min., Pastor of St. Luke still marvels at the fact that every Wednesday, cars begin to line up across the church’s large parking lot at 5:00am. It’s a sign of the times and deeply humbling. The El Pasoans Fighting Hunger trailers arrive at 6:00am and an army of volunteers, not all of them Catholic, immediately start to unload. Jose Antonio “Tony” Mireles and Sherry Rios, President and Vice President of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the Diocese of El Paso, respectively, oversee the operation that helps approximately 2,000 individuals each week. Sherry and Tony work in collaboration with 40 volunteers and follow CDC guidelines; they check temperatures, provide masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.

Sherry and Tony are eager to organize every Wednesday’s “mega food pantry” during these difficult times because it’s their calling as St. Vincent de Paul Society volunteers to provide basic human services and programs to prevent hunger and homelessness, and a way to live a Stewardship life. Father Marcus shared that the volunteer group developed an incredibly efficient way to distribute food and that they work as a well-oiled machine and united team each week. Everyone who helps out on any given Wednesday, including teenagers from neighboring high schools, says the experience is powerful and puts things in perspective.

If you would like to volunteer for St. Luke food distribution Wednesdays, please call the church’s main office at 915-585-0255. If you or someone you know is need of assistance with food, click here for a list of drive-thru locations and schedules. Food distribution at St. Luke Catholic Church begins every Wednesday at 9:00am. Once a month, the St. Luke mega food pantry provides dog and cat food as well. St. Luke Catholic Church is located at 930 E. Redd Road in Westside El Paso.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” — Matthew 25: 35-36