St Mary's RC Church

Description

St Mary’s of Gloucester City has an entrenched presence within the community. It has served the needs of the community for over 100 years. Meeting the needs of the blue-collar community goes beyond meeting their spiritual needs. St Mary’s has provided emergency food for community members for over 20 years. Over the last 5 years the needs have become greater and the community has needed a greater support. St Mary’s has expanded the emergency food program to provide lunch to the community Monday through Friday. Over the last year, the lunch program has expanded to include the weekends. Once the lunch program was expanded, a need to provide meals to our most vulnerable population, our children, soon became apparent. On average 10-15 children that aren’t school age seek lunch Monday through Friday. That number increases on the weekends to 30 with the number rising even higher as the month progresses or if school is closed for any significant period. Approximately 75 people receive lunch daily, 200 families receive holiday meals that cover the entire school break, with an additional 200 families receiving access to emergency food.

In addition to providing for the immediate food needs, St Mary’s also provides the community with warm winter wear during the cold months. 500 winter jackets, hats, and gloves are distributed on a yearly basis. There is also an emergency heating program that runs the duration of the winter months.