Fr. Rich’s Story
“We’re living the gospel. We’re feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger. Maybe someday we can expand what we offer but for now, our parish has been so supportive of the food pantry that it’s exciting and so doable. It’s just beautiful.”
When I arrived here 13 years ago, there were two food pantries that were part of the three parishes that would eventually merge. St. John the Evangelist had a food pantry that was over 30 years old – St. Peter’s also had one on the north end of town. St. Peter’s served people during the day while St. John’s served folks at night. Each had their own clientele and when we merged, however, we became ‘Christ the King Food Pantry.’
It was very moving to me that the people of this community were really interested in feeding the hungry and caring for the needy. I remember my first day here: a friend of mine helped me move from Berlin and in appreciation, I had taken him out to the Corner View Restaurant.
There were two ladies talking – now I know them as Mickey Russo and Linda Skaggs – they were talking about the new priest coming to town.
I wasn’t dressed as a priest and I was listening to their conversation about the new pastor when one of them said, ‘I hope Father has time to come and see us at the food pantry tonight.’ They were working at St. Peter’s. I took note of that.
From the very beginning, I have been so struck by those in this parish who care for the poor. Beginning with Fr. Rick Pennett’s desire to help those in need and then working with other volunteers like Mary Jane, Linda and Dot to make it all happen.
Even before I arrived, there was a desire to move the food pantry to a new site. We looked at other places and, in the meanwhile, saved $400,000 to either remodel the current one or find a new building.
Then in 2021, on one of my days off, the business manager called and asked me to stop by to see him when I came home. Thinking it would be bad news, I walked into his office and he handed me an envelope. I opened it, took out a check and said to him, ‘Am I reading this right? How many zeros are there?’ And he said, ‘Yes. We received a million dollar check from the Theresa A. Downing estate for the food pantry.’
“I opened it, took out a check and said to him, ‘Am I reading this right? How many zeros are there?’”
We knew then that this was a gift from God.
After much discussion, it has been the decision of the volunteers at the food pantry and the parish leadership to tear down the current structure and put up a new building. The Diocese donated $250,000 to the project; because of increased costs, we began a fundraising campaign to raise $750,000.
I’m excited about the possibilities for this new building. We’re going to build a modern, efficient facility that is barrier free so anyone can walk in and walk out; there will be no stairs. It will also be big enough so that people won’t need to wait outside and we will have a small conference room and a couple of small offices to help us gather the necessary information for data reporting and also have space to listen to peoples’ stories.
Many of those whom we serve are the working poor and that’s why the evening is better for them. The food pantry serves so many different types of people – those that are struggling and need food so they can spend their money on medical care or on their children. We also serve a portion of the homeless community and the new Americans so our reach is very broad.
The people of our parish are so generous. They have always been involved in working with the poor whether it be at the food pantry or at the Friendly Kitchen serving people who are homeless or at the winter shelter at Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. People here really live the gospel.
I think my first experience about feeding the hungry and caring for those who are less fortunate is the story my mother used to tell me of my grandfather. My grandfather was a painter in Berlin, New Hampshire. He used to paint the inside of peoples’ homes and he also hung wallpaper.
“We are reaching out and serving Jesus and the people who are most vulnerable.”
He was an entrepreneur and he had six children, one of them being my mother. Sometimes he would bring people home for supper who were complete strangers – they were ‘hoboes’ on the train going through Berlin and they were looking for work. My mother said that my grandmother used to get very upset with him because she had six children and was worried about having strangers in her house. But he told her that even these guys were hungry and needed to be fed.
I was raised in my grandparent’s house and although I wasn’t born then, this story always impressed me. My grandfather was a very religious man – he went to mass daily – but to bring complete strangers into his home and to feed them, that to me, is what we are doing here in this parish. We are reaching out and serving Jesus and the people who are most vulnerable. We’re living the Gospel.
