Learning Comes with Lunch
July 7, 2009
When her sister died two years ago, Yolanda Robbins and her husband welcomed her sister’s year-old baby Jada with open arms and tender hearts. While mourning her loss, Yolanda took comfort in raising her niece, along with her own children.
But in the past year, the Robbins have had some setbacks. Last December, Yolanda lost her factory job. Soon afterward, her husband’s hours at the lumberyard were cut. The family has been struggling trying to make ends meet while caring for their little ones.
They live in a small rundown trailer in the Vredenburgh “quarters,” a poor, low-lying community that easily floods. Many homes have no running water. The nearest grocery and laundromat are 30 miles away.
The family’s old trailer has floor and roof damage, and leaking water pipes. It is squeezed between an elderly neighbor who lives in a ramshackle house and another in a small rusted-out trailer. There is no yard to play in; the rutted single-lane road is just a few feet from their front door.
The Robbins are grateful for the summer programs the Missions’ Sisters of St. Joseph offer in this isolated community. Children learn Bible stories, prayers, songs, three Rs, and make crafts, play and importantly—eat a nutritious lunch.
I fondly remember as a young boy attending a parochial school served by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Sisters always began our day with prayer. In our classrooms, the most important subjects were Catechism and the Bible. The Sisters taught us to put religion first, then everything else in life would follow in the right direction. My prayer is that my life exemplifies the vital teachings I learned as a child.
It’s a joy to watch the Sisters teaching a new generation of little ones the importance of prayer. Before Bible storytime, preschoolers sit in a circle, praying daily for “Mommy, Daddy, Aunty, Sister” and others.
“My kids love going to the Missions’ programs and I love it too,” Yolanda said. “I want my kids to keep learning and hear Bible stories and pray.”
Yolanda kids are always hungry and they can’t afford to buy enough food for them in the summer when they are out of school. She is grateful to the Missions that her children are safe and well fed. “They can’t wait to go to the center every morning and I know they love lunch!”
You can easily see that the children are hungry. As soon as lunch is served, the room -- full of active preschoolers -- suddenly goes quiet. After heads are bowed and hands folded in prayer, the children turn their attention to plates of spaghetti, fruit and corn and plastic tumblers of milk. The only sounds are forks scooping up noodles and mouths eagerly gulping milk. It’s clear that for many of the little ones this will be their only healthy meal of the day.
Our Learning Centers serve some of the poorest and most isolated communities in rural Alabama. Lunch is vital because children can’t learn, grow strong and remain healthy and active when their stomachs are empty. “We’ve seen how much better children learn when they eat a healthy meal,” said Sister Nancy, who also feeds preschoolers during the school year. In her 25th year serving the poor in rural Alabama, Sister Nancy has a big heart of love for little children who live in poverty and are hungry.
This summer, the Missions will feed 75 children healthy lunches (and seconds) every day in three rural communities. Older children will get a chance to help prepare lunches for younger brothers, sisters, cousins and friends.
But I worry as I sit at my desk, looking at the pile of food bills for all our feeding ministries. I need your help to buy food for children in our summer programs. It costs $112.50 a day to feed 75 children. For the 8-week programs, I must pay $6,400 to feed all the hungry children and buy gasoline. Our teachers drive hundreds of miles each week transporting children from remote communities to the Missions’ Learning Centers in two counties. With the rising cost of gas, summer programs cost far more than we had budgeted.
I know children need a solid education to become our future leaders. Sadly, that crucial enrichment is often missing in underserved communities, especially during the long hot weeks of summer. That’s why I’m so pleased with our Sisters’ educational outreach to children through the Missions.
“We want to give them a head start on the new school year,” said Sister Nancy. “All children do better in school if they keep learning year round.”
Education has always been a priority for the Edmundite Fathers, and I’m pleased to continue this essential ministry, especially for poor families. I’m glad we can offer them a good Christian foundation with Bible stories, prayer and songs. I know I’m walking in the sure footsteps of our Founder Father Frank Casey, S.S.E., who worked hard to provide a solid Christian education for the poorest children in the South. Father Frank also depended on the valuable educational ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who have served with our Missions for nearly 70 years.
Your gift will help feed hungry children like Jada who count on the programs offered by our Missions in Vredenburgh, Pine Apple and Mosses. I can’t do it without you. Please help me reach out with the Lord’s loving hands to bless the little children who come, trusting in our care, to a safe and secure place in a world full of difficult obstacles and challenges.
I keep you in my daily prayers and remember your needs before the altar of our Lord. I cherish your prayers for our rural Southern poor as well.
With gratitude for all your help,
Rev. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.
