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WESTFIELD — The shelves were empty in late October at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and assistance ministry at St. Mary parish here on Bartlett Street. And Christine Farrell, president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, said she really wanted to cry. Then, high school students came through. “‘Oh, Mrs. Farrell, we had to have a dress-down day. We had to help,’” a student told her, Farrell said. She recounted the exchange Thursday to the Most. Rev. William D. Byrne, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. “Then I really had to cry.” Byrne, the spiritual leader of 199,000 Catholics in 79 parishes across Hampen, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties, is putting out the call for everyone to step up and help support food pantries now that families are feeling the effects of suspended SNAP benefits and policy changes. SNAP usually provides $35 million in benefits to families across Western Massachusetts each month. Traffic through the pantry at St. Mary’s has doubled over the past week or so to 30 families, Farrell said. Shaina Rodriguez, executive director of Catholic Charities for the diocese, said, before the cuts, 84 families made use of the diocese’s mobile pantry at a stop in Springfield on Oct. 31. This week, that stop drew more than 240 families. “We need to fill shelves,” Byrne said. “So as Catholics, we are all called to respond. I know that many of our parishes, if not most, like St. Mary’s here, have food collection programs, which serve as either local donation sites or they feed into broader food banks.” He’s asking pastors to announce the need at Mass this weekend and in the immediate future. “Sometimes it’s as simple as putting a box out in the front of the church,” he said, as simple as “love thy neighbor.” “If we can only talk the talk, then we are hypocrites. We need to walk the walk. And so many of our parishes and volunteers are doing just that. And now we’re inviting even more people to participate,” Byrne said. Rodriguez said Catholic Charities had a fundraising goal of about $65,000 for its food security programs. Byrne said Catholic Charities is a major recipient of the Annual Catholic Appeal fundraiser, and food programs will likely get a higher percentage of that campaign’s proceeds. “When people are hungry, it’s a priority,” he said. Formerly a key player in refugee resettlement in the area, Catholic Charities changed its focus earlier this year, after the Trump administration dropped federal funding for migrant resettlement. “We continue to walk with those families,” Byrne said. But Catholic Charities’ new focuses are food security, mental health and housing.
