Leave it to St. Lucy, the patron saint of the blind, to shine a light on the need for food experienced by many families in the diocese. On her feast day, Dec. 13, St. Lucy also was invoked to shine a bright light on the many volunteers who work with Catholic Charities St. Lucy Food Project to help bring nonperishable food, meat, dairy and produce to those many family tables.
Since 2014, St. Lucy has distributed 9.9 million pounds of food and fed 404,000 clients, according to Program Director Vincent Cannava. “It couldn’t have been done without you,” he told the volunteers who collect, sort and distribute that food.
“St. Lucy is a miraculous story,” said Catholic Charities President and CEO Stephen Carattini, who joined staff at the St. Lucy food warehouse in Manassas to thank some of the volunteers who have helped provide food through three Catholic Charities and about 80 community pantries throughout the 21 counties of the diocese.
The annual celebration began with a procession by a 5-year-old girl, adorned with a wreath of candles, appropriately named Lucy O’Neal.
