In the heart of the Bronx, every Friday morning, long before dawn, a silent line begins to form outside St. Simon Stock–St. Joseph. Some arrive as early as five, bundled up against the crisp fall air, waiting patiently for the food pantry to open. By noon, hundreds of families will have passed through their doors, carrying bags full of rice, beans, milk, chicken and vegetables. Each bag represents much more than food: it is hope, dignity and relief in a city where food prices continue to rise.
That hope has a name: Feeding Our Neighbors, a program of Catholic Charities of New York that supports dozens of parish pantries throughout the Archdiocese. At St. Simon Stock–St. Joseph, the program keeps alive a work that began in the 80s as a small parish initiative and that today has become an essential pillar for hundreds of families in the Bronx.
Father Michael Kissane, pastor of the church, sums it up with a simple but powerful phrase: “We are an oasis in the desert.” A refuge where the hungry find sustenance, the tired find community, and faith is transformed into concrete action.
Leading this mission is Kenya Taveras, parish administrative assistant, who has coordinated the pantry since 2017. Under her leadership, the program has grown tremendously. “We serve between 220 and 225 families every Friday. On special distribution days, like today, we reach more than 400,” he explains. Kenya makes sure that the food is not only plentiful, but nutritious. “We try to offer fresh products—vegetables, rice, beans, milk, fish, chicken—because when you give nutrition, you also give education and health.”
But Kenya and Father Kissane know the need is much greater. In New York, more than two million people, including one in four children, live with food insecurity. On every corner of the Bronx, hunger hides behind closed doors, affecting both working families and seniors living alone.
The pantry doesn’t just offer food: it offers dignity. “When people come here, they don’t just take food, they take respite, a smile, the sense that they are not alone,” says Father Kissane. Thanks to the support of Catholic Charities, the parish is able to continue serving hundreds of families each week. The program provides vital resources—funds, food, logistical support—that make this work possible.
At St. Simon Stock–St. Joseph, like in so many parishes in the Bronx and throughout the Archdiocese, Feeding Our Neighbors continues to demonstrate what it means to live the Gospel: transforming faith into food, compassion into community, and hope into action. In the midst of difficulties, this small church continues to be what its parish priest rightly describes: “an oasis in the desert.”
Beatriz Carvalho, marketing manager for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
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