St. Francis Xavier to pack 60,000 meals in Lenten service project

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Parish in Medina has a long history of caring for the needs of the greater Medina County community.

For decades, its Society of St. Vincent de Paul has helped about 1,200 adults and 900 children each year with housing, utility and food assistance, offering a lifeline in times of crisis.

Next month, for the first time, the parish will host a large-scale food-packing event aimed at helping fight hunger not only in Medina County but well beyond the nation’s borders.

St. Francis Xavier is partnering with Cross Catholic Outreach on a parishwide Lenten service project to pack 60,000 nutritious meals for children and families in a single day.

Most of the meals will be sent to countries in greatest need – most recently Jamaica, which was heavily damaged last fall by Hurricane Melissa. However, 10 percent of the food packed in the parish school gym will remain in Medina County to serve clients of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul and the Lodi Family Center.

The parish hopes to raise $19,800 to cover the cost of the meals.

In addition to individual donations, the event is supported by sponsors including Knights of Columbus Post 4168, Hamel Advisory Services, KeyBank, the Lowther family and HealthSource of Medina.

Cross Catholic Outreach organizers will work with parishioners and community volunteers Saturday, April 11, to assemble food packages at 14 stations in the parish gym.

Each meal costs 33 cents. Volunteers wearing hair nets will work in assembly lines to pack beans, soy, rice, dehydrated vegetables and vitamin packets. The meals are scientifically formulated to energize, strengthen and improve the health of malnourished children and families.

The timing is especially meaningful, said pastor Father Tony Sejba, as it falls on the Saturday of Divine Mercy weekend.

“This is a tangible way for us to extend the mercy of God to people in need well beyond here in Medina,” Sejba said. “And Cross Catholic Outreach makes this possible to provide some 60,000 meals at 33 cents a meal. You sacrifice during Lent so you can pay for this, as well as sacrifice your time on Divine Mercy weekend.”

To highlight the issue of hunger, St. Francis Xavier will host a talk by Marisa Wren of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank about growing food insecurity in Medina County. Rick Niese, president of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter, also will discuss how parishioners assist those in need locally.

A simple soup supper at 5:30 p.m. will precede the talk at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in the Xavier Room. Registration by March 28 is requested at sfxmedina.com/parish/lent2026.

In support of the service project, parish music director Carissa Patton Young also composed a song emphasizing the call to help others.

Young described the piece as a reminder of the Catholic call to holiness and a way to unite the parish community in service.

“‘We Answer the Call’ was composed in response to the call to missionary discipleship at the heart of our Catholic faith,” Young said.

“We are called to make personal sacrifices to share in some small way in Christ’s suffering,” she added. “These practices help us to prune away those habits that keep us from growing closer to God. By uniting our suffering to Christ’s, we participate in God’s work of salvation.”

St. Francis Xavier Director of Stewardship Jennifer Webb said providing meals for those less fortunate is a meaningful way to answer that call.

All ages and abilities can participate by donating or volunteering for what Webb described as a powerful day of faith in action.

“It’s a great team-building activity, as we all rally together around a great cause,” she said.

For more information, to donate or to volunteer, visit sfxmedina.com or crosscatholic.org/food-packing-events/volunteer.