St. Mary Parish food pantry wins prestigious award
Laura Frankrone, left, a Dare to Care representative, presents a 2020 Bobby Ellison Award of Excellence to Breaking Bread volunteers. Pictured to her left are Nancy Rochner, Jackson Rochner (child), Mark Rochner, Dolores Dotson, Diane Cooper (with plaque and check), Mike Seng, Dennis Maschino and Jim Newman. (Submitted photo)
By Leslie Lynch (Special to The Criterion)
LANESVILLE—No one enters a ministry of service with an eye fixed on receiving accolades. When Diane Cooper established Breaking Bread food pantry at St. Mary Parish in Lanesville, all she wanted was to feed the hungry. After all, those people were hungry year-round, not just during parish food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Yet 11 years later, Dare to Care, a Kentuckiana food bank serving 13 counties surrounding Louisville, recently presented the 2020 Bobby Ellison Award of Excellence to Breaking Bread.
The merit-based award, named for a 9-year-old child who died of starvation in Louisville the day before Thanksgiving in 1969, can be given to as many as five of the more than 200 partner agencies of Dare to Care.
Some years, the award is not presented, and rarely is it given to five recipients. This year, St. Mary’s Breaking Bread shared the honor with Lincoln Hills United Methodist Church in English, Ind.; and Bellarmine University Knight’s Pantry, Life Church’s The Dream Center, and the Lowe-Bowen Family Resource Center, all in Louisville.
Dare to Care was created by a shocked Louisville community 51 years ago. “How can a child starve to death here? Never again,” they vowed.
While Lanesville’s Harrison County has not experienced a similar tragedy, many in the mostly rural county lack for food. “You wouldn’t know how many people are hungry,” said Cooper, “until you spend time at the pantry.”
Cooper faced her own challenges as Breaking Bread grew, even as then-St. Mary pastor Father Harold Ripperger, always a fan of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, encouraged her fledgling ministry.
At first, she maintained the pantry in her business space in nearby Corydon. Aiming for the ability to distribute more food, she attempted to partner with Dare to Care. Citing too many pantries in Corydon, Dare to Care rejected her application.
Disappointed but undaunted, Cooper moved the pantry to Lanesville. It eventually landed in its present location in the lower level of a house acquired by the parish.
Dare to Care approved partnership in 2012, and the number of families served doubled immediately, in part because of the changed demographic, and because of Dare to Care’s listing of Breaking Bread as a partner on its website.
From a humble beginning, serving 34 families with 10 volunteers in 2008, more than 300 unduplicated families have received food from Breaking Bread annually for the past six years. Between 1,000 and 1,200 children receive food each year, as do more than 500 seniors and nearly 100 veterans.
Dare to Care’s Laura Frankrone presented the 2020 Bobby Ellison Award of Excellence plaque and a check for $500 to Cooper, saying, “Last year, Breaking Bread was asked to go beyond their comfort level to serve the needs of the community by adding the distribution of USDA commodities. We were impressed with the way Diane and her team went about this mindfully. They carefully considered the additional administrative load, prayed about it and discerned that this was something they could do.”
Frankrone added, “The power of [Breaking Bread’s] ‘yes’ has helped so many people in this area be able to access more food, and not have to drive all the way into Corydon. This was a huge program expansion, and they handled it the best I’ve ever seen.”
Dare to Care also cited St. Mary’s Helping Hand Clothes Closet, located in the upper level of the home, and the coordination of hours between the two ministries as factors influencing their choice to grant the award to Breaking Bread.
“People can meet both needs without extra trips,” said Frankrone.
Breaking Bread not only trained its volunteers in the distribution of commodities, but increased its volunteer pool by 25%, now boasting a team of 62. Mary Eisert has been with the pantry from its inception, and Linda and Walter West were active in the ministry for many years as well. Deacon Rick Cooper, Diane’s husband, has provided logistical support.
“Our volunteers are generous, wonderful people, unending in their donations of love, energy, and compassion,” said Deacon Cooper. “They are what make Breaking Bread work.”
The addition of commodities is a rich resource stream for low-income families in these uncertain times. And food donations from parishioners, the backbone of the pantry, now go further in serving the general public.
Although Father Ripperger did not live to see it, St. Mary has become a hub of service for the poor in southern Indiana, like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. And though Diane Cooper did not set out to win an award, she and her team are delighted at their hard-earned recognition.
From the flicker of an idea—what if?—to an award winning ministry, Breaking Bread food pantry has become a light on a hill, feeding the hungry, as Jesus asked.
As to the $500? “I have heavy duty shelving for the pantry picked out,” said Cooper. “We need it!”
(Leslie Lynch is a member of St. Mary Parish in Lanesville.) †
