CHARLOTTE — More than 800 parishioners from St. Matthew Church gathered to pack meals Sept. 11 for the poor during the parish’s 19th annual Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive.
This year’s effort involved packing 309,096 meals on site, as well as a virtual fundraising event that raised over $312,000.
The food and other critical supplies are headed to the Missionaries of the Poor to distribute in Cap-Haitien, Haiti.
Donations are also funding sustainability projects and subsidizing education at St. Marc School in Haiti, including expanding the secondary school and starting a trade school.
Through the 2021 drive, the parish also continues its financial support for a parish food program for children in Venezuela and a boys’ hostel in India, as well as providing food and funds to assist Charlotte-area homeless through food banks such as Second Harvest and Mel’s Diner. The meal-packing event was part of a number of parish-wide events in September to celebrate the parish’s 35th anniversary.
— Photos provided by St. Matthew Church
