Sandwich Ministry At Cure d’Ars
Church Volunteers Bag Up Lunch For Men and Women At Samaritan House Every Other Sunday
Photos by Cara DeGette
Every other Sunday between masses, a group of volunteers gathers at Cure d’Ars Catholic Church, at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Dahlia Street. The volunteers are all parishioners at the church, described on its website as “a multi-ethnic community of Catholic Christians, rooted in African-American spirituality.”
And when they meet, the group assembles sack lunches for people experiencing homelessness and poverty, as part of the Ed Brooks Sandwich Ministry.
The ministry was originally founded in 2010 by Ed Brooks and Cure d’Ars. Brooks had been living in Las Vegas, Nev. where he learned about a food-based ministry program at several parishes. When he moved back to Colorado in 2008, he returned to Cure d’Ars, wanting to bring a similar ministry back to his home church. The program successfully launched in its first year and has been going strong ever since.
A team of volunteers plan and manage the sandwich ministry. Minnie Cassell, one of those leaders, has a unique connection to the program, which she has been working with since its inception. The program is named for her cousin, Brooks, who has passed away, and he is who originally got her involved.
“It was something I never thought about doing,” Cassell said. “He was more of a businessperson than I am. He put together a business plan and presented it to the parish and finance council.”
Part of what draws Cassell to continue working with the sandwich ministry is her own conviction, but another part is her connection to her cousin. She thinks of him often while assembling lunches. His photograph hangs in the room where they work, watching over the ministry that continues in his name.
‘I just do it’
Cassell, who grew up in Kansas and lived in Chicago, moved to Denver in 1973 to give her children a better life. Her aunt was a parishioner at Cure d’Ars, and Cassell joined her for Mass. She’s been attending the church ever since. “I basically came in working,” said Cassell, sharing that she first started as an usher and then grew into helping with administrative duties until the sandwich ministry was founded.
Half of the ministry’s original leadership group has passed away, but new volunteers have stepped up.
“It’s a mission of the church so we just keep going with it,” said Cassell. She credits her faith and upbringing with giving her the passion to help others, but she doesn’t want any special credit for it.
“In the gospel, it says that whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do also to me,” she said. “Part of my faith is helping those in need.”
Despite Cassell’s reluctance to be publicly recognized for her work, the Archdiocese of Denver’s Office of Black Catholic Ministry awarded Cassell with the St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Katherine Drexel Award for her service to the community. “When they called me, I was surprised,” said Cassell. “I don’t think about being rewarded for what I’ve done. I just do it.”
105 sacks a week
According to the brochure, the sandwich ministry is “a modest effort to assist sisters and brothers who struggle to find enough nourishment to help them through the day.”
In preparation for each session, Cassell and other church leaders, including Bill Uebelher and Ria and Ruffy deDios, request donations from parishioners and purchase supplies as needed.
The program has no budget, so Cassell relies on community members to donate funds and supplies. She described her community as generous and supportive of the ministry. Cassell and other leaders set up the space on Saturdays, so that “when [volunteers] come in on Sunday, all they have to do is make the sandwiches, put them in the bags, and box them up.”
Ten or 12 volunteers of all ages usually assemble 105 bags, plus an additional 25 or so individual sandwiches per week. Each bag contains two sandwiches, a bottle of water, a piece of fruit, cookies, and some candy.
After the sacks are assembled, they are taken to Samaritan House, downtown at 23rd and Larimer Street. There, they are distributed to residents, including those who are heading to school, a work site or job interview. Samaritan House offers extended stay and short stay opportunities to people experiencing homelessness and supplies approximately a quarter of the shelter housing available to families in Denver. Each day, the shelter provides 300 mostly extended-stay residents with a place to sleep, plus meals, at just this one location.
Prepared with compassion
The sandwich ministry at Cure d’Ars is just one of the programs that provides sack lunches to residents, but the value of those lunches cannot be overstated, both financially and emotionally.
“Resources we would have to spend on lunches can be used elsewhere,” said Mark Hahn, who works in volunteer and parish relations with Catholic Charities, the organization that oversees Samaritan House. Perhaps more importantly, though, residents “know when meals have been prepared with love and compassion by someone outside Samaritan House.”
Being supported not only by the resources at Samaritan House, but also by a wider community makes a huge difference, according to Hahn. When residents are shown that people believe in and care about them, they’re more likely to successfully launch into stabile housing and employment.
The photo of Ed Brooks that Cassell mentioned is actually a plaque commemorating Brooks’ work. The plaque thanks him and then shares a quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel, and when necessary use words.” It’s a fitting way to describe the sandwich ministry, which is founded on caring for one another through the medium of food.
Sierra Fleenor is executive director of GPHC, Inc. She received a masters in theological studies from Harvard University.