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From lunch box to food pantry

Zoey Maraist | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

Sr. Aniliza Juan and Lucy Allen put food donated from students of St. Mary School in Alexandria into bags. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Since September, students have donated more than 400 pounds of food through the Food Bus program. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Sr. Aniliza Juan and parent volunteer Kerri Rygiel organize the donations at the Christ House food pantry in Alexandria. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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The cafeteria at St. Mary School in Alexandria was filled with
fourth-graders, long tables scattered with lunchboxes and the sound of excited
chatter. As they lunched, students occasionally placed a carton of milk or
piece of fruit into a refrigerator labeled with shiny gold and blue letters —
Food Bus

In 2012, Kathleen Dietrich, a parishioner of Little Flower Church
in Bethesda, Md., was monitoring her own child’s cafeteria and watched as
handful after handful of unopened, uneaten, perfectly good food piled up in the
trash. That kind of food waste isn’t limited to inside schools, she said. “About
40 percent of what our country produces in food is wasted,” said Dietrich.
“Then it gets taken to a landfill and emits methane gas.”

So Dietrich asked the principal if she could bring the unwanted
food to a pantry. That idea became Food Bus Inc., which now helps around 50 schools
nationwide avoid food waste and feed the hungry. Food Bus buys each school a
refrigerator and whatever else they need to collect the food. They also help implement
the program in a way that works for the school. Every week, volunteers bring
the donated food to a partner food pantry, or in some schools, the food goes
directly to the school’s needy families.

At first, Dietrich finds that many school officials are worried
about liability, but they come to embrace the program as they learn what can
and cannot be donated, and see the success of other schools. “Once people
figure out that it can be done, that it’s legal, that it’s safe and that
there’s a need, they rarely turn their back on it,” said Dietrich.

Parent Ingrid Allen initiated the program at St. Mary after
hearing about it from friends in Arlington. Since they’ve partnered with Food
Bus in September, St. Mary School has donated more than 400 pounds of leftover
food to the Christ House food pantry in Alexandria. “We’re excited to be the
first Catholic school in Northern Virginia to be involved with the Food Bus
program,” she said.

La Sallette Sister Aniliza Juan, volunteer coordinator, at Christ
House, appreciates that the program teaches children about the needs of the
poor and encourages them to share with others. Much of the food in their large Christ
House pantry is boxed or canned, and is distributed two days a week. Food donated
through Food Bus is typically healthful, perishable items such as milk. In many
instances, Dietrich has seen Food Bus’s partnership with food pantries totally
change what kinds of food they are able to offer their clients regularly, she
said. 

Principal Janet Cantwell feels the parents appreciate that their
children are learning a tangible lesson. “I think it’s really important looking
at Catholic social justice teaching to make sure that children are aware there
are people in our country who go hungry every day,” she said.

Both in the school cafeteria and in the kitchen at home, food
often is devalued, she noted. “In the moment, we decide we want something and
then we don’t want it, so we just to throw it in the trash can,” she said.
“That is not the way we as Catholics should treat the resources that God has
given us. Food is something we appreciate, something we can share with those
less fortunate than ourselves.” 

For more information on how the
Diocese of Arlington is observing World Day of the Poor Nov. 19, go to
arlingtondiocese.org/2017worlddayofthepoor.

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