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Abundant blessing: Five loaves, two fish, one faith-filled vision
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By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald
A successful $15 million capital campaign culminated Oct. 7 with the ribbon-cutting for Second Harvest Food Bank’s new Gayle and Tom Benson Food and Nutrition Center in Elmwood.
Second Harvest was launched in 1982 by the late Archbishop Philip Hannan, and for the last 40 years, the ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans has worked diligently to close the hunger gap in the 23 civil parishes of south Louisiana.The extensively remodeled facility at 700 Edwards Ave. will allow Second Harvest to nearly double its annual output by serving 70 million meals annually.
After a celebratory second line, a touching moment took place inside the nearly empty, main entrance: Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest, emotionally embraced her husband Ken in front of an oversized, black-and-white mural from 1982 of Archbishop Hannan, Msgr. Roger Morin, Gregory Ben Johnson and Daughter of Ch
arity Sister Anthony Barczykowski loading food boxes into a truck.That’s where the dream began.
A dream fulfilled
The newly expanded facility is the realization of a vision tied to the passion for radical charity of Archbishop Hannan, Archbishop Gregory Aymond said.
“Some people have dreams and, for whatever reason, they let those dreams go and they never become a reality,” Archbishop Aymond said. “But today, we’re here because someone had a dream a long time ago. His name was Philip Hannan, the archbishop of New Orleans.
“He had a dream and was determined that that dream would come true. Certainly, one of the greatest gifts that he gave us was Second Harvest Food Bank. His motto as a bishop was, ‘Charity is the bond of perfection.’ He said the charity of Christ was something that we must embrace.”
Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints who made the lead gift of $3.5 million, said her late husband Tom would have been proud of how Second Harvest feeds the hungry.“We have all seen through the years that hunger and disaster do not have an offseason,” Benson said. “The staff and volunteers of Second Harvest do so much for so many in our community as they place every dollar they receive toward food for the less fortunate. I’m humbled to help play a small part in helping Second Harvest build and maintain the infrastructure they need to do their critical work in feeding the more vulnerable people in our community.”