BROOKINGS I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. That first of the several corporal works of mercy noted in the Gospel of Matthew, 25:31-46, demands action.
Undertaking that action locally and in a big way will be about 300 members of the All Saints Pastorate, Sioux Falls Diocese. The pastorate includes the Catholic parishes of: St. John the Evangelist (Arlington); St. Thomas More (Brookings); Our Lady of Good Counsel (Elkton); St. Francis de Sales (Estelline); St. Paul (White); and Pope Pius XII Newman (South Dakota State University).
On April 12 in the gym at STM, three teams of 100 volunteers each working three two-hour shifts, will package 100,000 fortified meals that will be provided to war-torn camps in Africa. The pastorate is also providing $25,000 still being raised to buy the necessary ingredients to build the meals.
The Kids Against Hunger effort is under the umbrella of Helping Kids Round First, a non-profit humanitarian effort founded by Craig Severtson about 16 years ago. Home-based in Flandreau, HKRF has expanded from its original mission: collecting and distributing sports equipment especially baseball gear for needy kids in Nicaragua to a multi-faceted approach in Africa.
Spearheading the meal-assembly drive in Brookings is Cheryl Austreim, a member of Catholic Daughters of the Americas and an STM parishioner.
From the very start, the Holy Spirit has done so much, Austreim said. She and husband Doug Austreim had lived in Flandreau for 25 years before moving to Brookings about 28 years ago. She had taught school there and her husband was in the landscaping business. They had known Severtson for many years; when he lost his younger brother in a tragedy several months, the Austreims came to his funeral. Severtson talked about his brother. In a fashion, that was the catalyst for the upcoming food drive.
Austreim talked with Rachel Mark a former youth director at STM who had spearheaded a similar food-packaging drive in April 2015. Austreim brought that up at the CDA meeting in January this year; and the seed was planted for another such effort.
From Nicaragua to Africa
On March 18, Severtson told his story to the Catholic Daughters at their monthly meeting. He distributed a brochure to attendees: Beyond Borders: A Mission of Hope and Change is what HKRF is all about. Our work spans Central America and Africa, where we support vulnerable communities facing challenges ranging from poverty and food insecurity to lack of education and healthcare. HKRF efforts take a holistic perspective, understanding that to truly thrive, the fundamental needs of people such as food, shelter, education, and healthcare must be met first.
Thats difficult to do in Africa. Citing Chad and Sudan, Severetson noted, What started out as refugee work in Africa, Chad and Sudan, others were kicked out; very few of us are left. There is nothing worse in the world than a war refugee camp; those camps are easily kids, more than half.
Everyone has their own reasons for doing things, what you do in life, he noted. And it might be faith-based and it might be Gods work but not for everybody. Some (do it) just because its the right thing.
But in this case Im going to say the majority of our work is with the Catholic Church. In fact its a Catholic country in Nicaragua, yet its complete persecution of Catholics. We have to see Catholic leaders undercover, subterranean, at night, secretly meet. Its just the world where we work.
Sudan is generally a country of Islam, Severetson said, shifting focus from Central America to Central Africa. Through ethnic cleansing a lot of the other religions have been pushed out of the country as they move south to the Darfur regions where we work. Its hard to get into Sudan, so sometimes we work in Chad, which is not at war. But its also one of the poorest countries in the world. When youre in Sudan, you run to where theyre not going to shoot your family.
We accept this. Were unique. Were not normal. We work in volatile parts of the world on a regular basis. Theyre impossible places that are dangerous.
Austreim asked Severetson if he would let the Catholic Daughters know when he or one of his assistants went on a trip abroad: Whenever you go on one of these trips, we know how dangerous they are. Because we pray; thats what we do.
While appreciation goes out to all the people who donate their time, talent and treasure to packing the hundreds of thousands of meal, that effort is just one piece of the many logistical and other challenges that go into getting the meals into the hands of the people who need them.
After the 100,000 fortified meals are packaged by the All Saints Pastorate volunteers, they must be taken to Flandreau. From there, Severetson and his HKRF assistants will provide the transportation circuitous via land, sea and air to get them to the refugees.
Where your food is going to go is to the poorest place in the world, to the most dangerous place in the world, with a million refugees which the United Nations says is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, Severtson explained.
Kids Against Hunger notes that its meals have been formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed by a malnourished childs and adults body and mind. Kids Against Hungers meals offer all nine of the essential amino acids required for complete nutrition something that cant be said about other typical food relief sources such as rice or beans alone. The beauty of the food formulation is its simplicity. It is made from four readily available, dry ingredients that are easy to package, keep for long periods, and require only boiling with water to prepare. It is a nutritionally complex and well-balanced meal.
For some STM parishioners, this years food packaging effort may seem like a dj-vu-all-over-again experience: they took place in a similar effort 10 years ago in April. About 400 people, 225 of them students, more than accomplished their mission. The all-parish goal was to raise $12,000 and pack 40,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now!; what was achieved, with former STM Youth Director Rachel Mark leading the charge, was $15,000 raised and 50,000 meals packaged for shipment.
Contact John Kubal at [email protected].
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