By Michelle L. Gordon
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Public Affairs
At the start of the Lenten season, the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Catholic confirmation class began collecting non-perishable food for a local charity as part of a class project.
The class, which is made up of six kids and three adults, was challenged by their teachers to collect the sum total of their body weight in food. The class took it a step farther and also included their priest in their goal weight. They started their project on Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic faith.
Two weeks before their Easter Sunday deadline, they not only met their goal, but they exceeded it by collecting 2,241 pounds of food. A team from the JBAB Chapel delivered the food April 4 to So Others Might Eat (SOME) – an interfaith, community-based organization that helps the poor and homeless within the National Capital Region.
“Throughout the year, especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we collect food for SOME,” said JBAB Chaplain Sherrol James. “The Catholic Religious Education Coordinator keeps in touch with them, and they let her know what items are needed most. However, we did not tell SOME about this particular donation, and they were very surprised. The chapel has never delivered such a large amount of food [to them].”
While the food donation will greatly benefit the local community, James encourages everyone to donate something more valuable than money or food. She wants them to give their time.
“It's important to not just donate food to local charities, but to volunteer when we can,” she said. “As a chapel, we need to be a caring, compassionate community, who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those who are sick and imprisoned ... to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”