Protecting children 5 • Ethical health care 7 • Funding religious’ retirement 13 December 8, 2016 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Blessed feast of the Immaculate conception
Hungry for food, leaving with love Our Lady of the Lake rebuilds food shelf, thrift store By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit
M
ound resident Ken Trazes said he once cooked as a chef for an Au Bon Pain in downtown Minneapolis before a spinal disease curtailed his career.
Trazes, 47, depends on disability assistance, he said, but is still able to cook with top shelf ingredients with the help of Westonka Food Shelf. He makes a weekly trip to the pantry neighboring Our Lady of the Lake in Mound for not only the basic ingredients but also rare spices, he said. “It’s like the Beverly Hills of Minnesota; you get all stocked goods from the good stores like Lunds and Byerlys and Kowalski’s,” Trazes said about the food shelf, which uses a food rescue program to obtain food from local stores. Complementing its high quality food is a pristine new building, the Grace Family Center, a project OLL spearheaded. Opened in October, the center has a simple but store-like look with professional display cases. “We wanted it to be like they’re stepping into a real store,” said Father Tony O’Neill, OLL’s pastor. “Everything about the building — the fact that it’s a well-built and handsome building — it communicates to the person who walks in there that we think they’re worth that.”
ABOVE From left, volunteers Sheri Gahl and Cinda Dorholt assemble a food order at Westonka Food Shelf in Mound Nov. 22. The food shelf is housed in the newly constructed Grace Family Center next door to Our Lady of the Lake in Mound. Gahl is a parishioner. BELOW Father Tony O’Neill, pastor of Our Lady of the Lake in Mound, stands outside Grace Family Center. He was instrumental in the recent construction of the building. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
“Everything about the building — the fact that it’s a well-built and handsome building — it communicates to the person who walks in there that we think they’re worth that.” Father Tony O’Neill
Please turn to FOOD SHELF on page 6
ALSO inside
Pallium preparations
Oh little town of Bethlehem
Building a hospital and hope
The vestment Archbishop Hebda will receive at the Cathedral Dec. 18 shows archdiocese’s unity with pope. — Page 5
After violence marked last year’s holiday season, Bethlehem residents have high hopes for this Christmas. — Page 8
Retired St. Thomas president collaborates with Ugandan alumni to improve health care in African nation’s capital city. — Pages 10-11