CHARLOTTE — Most people are familiar with the old "Muffin Man" jingle, but not many Charlotte Catholics have heard about St. John Neumann's Church "Muffin Ministry."
Every third Sunday of the month, a rotating group of about 20 parishioners at St. John Neumann volunteer to bake muffins, or donate fruits, snacks and drinks for people at Crisis Assistance Ministry to eat breakfast.
Located in uptown Charlotte, Crisis Assistance Ministry is a non-profit group that provides emergency assistance with rent, utilities, clothing, and household goods to Mecklenburg County residents in need.
Muffin Ministry leader Kathy Sims, with the help of another volunteer, sets up a free shop inside the agency's lobby the third Monday of each month. Their table is typically covered with about six dozen muffins baked the day before, plenty of apples and bananas, snacks and crackers, orange juice, bottled water and fresh-brewed coffee. On a typical Monday morning, they feed 150 to 200 people who have to wait, sometimes for several hours, for much-needed help from Crisis Assistance Ministry.
"We usually get there around 8 o'clock. However, we brew the coffee first, which takes some time, and we usually get out there around 8:30, and we're there until everyone is fed," Sims explains.
"They may be locked out of their apartments already. They're about to have their electricity turned off; their water turned off... We want to let them know that people are caring about them," she adds.
Karla Emery, volunteer coordinator for Crisis Assistance Ministry, said St. John Neumann Church is the only Catholic parish in Charlotte that helps feed their waiting clients, and one of only 10 volunteer groups committed to help out with the breakfast or lunch ministry at the agency once a month.
"Because our agency doesn't advertise breakfast or lunch ministries, it's always a very fun surprise (for the clients). So, we'll make an announcement, let them know who is here... I've had people say they are grateful. Their words are 'grateful,' 'shocked.' They'll ask, 'Who did this?' 'Who spent time on me?'" Emery says. "We remind them that this is not our agency providing it. We are at the mercy of our volunteers."
Muffin Ministry volunteer Kathy Johnson relishes the opportunity to help out Sims every month at Crisis Assistance Ministry.
"It's very satisfying. I feel like I'm helping those in need in a very small way," Johnson says. "And it's food. Who knows if they've had anything to eat today, or if they'll have anything to eat when they go home?"
When asked about her baking skills, Sims confesses that baking is not her calling, but serving those in need by providing food and clothing is the main reason she got involved.
"We do have some wonderful bakers, though, here at the church, but I think that helping others through whatever it is (it's her calling). And making muffins is one of those ways."
— Rico De Silva, Hispanic Communications Reporter
CHARLOTTE — Hundreds of drivers along Park Road are reminded just how valuable life is as they zoom past the "Cemetery of Innocents" in front of St. Vincent de Paul Church.
This year, the pro-life banners from the "Cemetery of Innocents" were stolen, according to Diane Hoefling, Respect Life Coordinator at the church.
This is the sixth time the pro-life display has been vandalized in its 22-year history.
"Cemetery of Innocents" is a pro-life exhibit in observance of the more than 4,000 unborn babies killed daily through abortion in the U.S. The parish's display is set up annually to coincide with the January 1973 anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the killing of unborn children.
Last year, several white crosses that line the grass near signs that say "In memory of the unborn killed by abortion" and "Take my hand, not my life," were broken. Damage to the broken wooden crosses was estimated at $200.
In 2012, two banners which carried pro-life messages were torn. Other times, crosses have been removed, and signs and banners have been slashed or stolen.
The goal of the display is to remind passers-by of the tragic toll that abortion has taken on our nation and the city of Charlotte, as well as to educate and inspire others to defend human life and to help pregnant women in crisis. The display has generated calls from abortion-minded woman seeking help, some regretting a past abortion and other churches interested in doing their own pro-life displays.
“Admittedly, we disturb passers-by, but for the sake of saving lives. If we provoke, it is people conscious we hope to reach. In exposing a life or death truth, abortion-minded mothers might choose life, while we keep in mind the need for love and support for those who have been involved in a past abortion decision,” Hoefling wrote to the Catholic News Herald.
“Destructive delinquents we can forgive, but we will not stop reminding everyone of this evil that has slaughtered over 62 million Innocents in America and 68 every day in North Carolina —the number of crosses we display. We are a complacent society in need of constant prodding to see the realism of abortion as murder. Our cemetery may be disturbing, but our message is one of Truth and Hope.”
— Kimberly Bender
Photo from 2016 damage