John McEvoy's Page

By John McEvoy


For more than 50 years St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church has been helping feed and clothe the homeless, hungry and needy.
Nearly every day of the year at 11 a.m., the soup kitchen on the Auraria Campus opens its doors providing freshly made sandwiches and soup to an average of 80 to 100 people.
The only day of the year food is not served is Thanksgiving, because there are so many other places in the area offering a free meal.
Each morning, a different team of six to 10 volunteers arrive to assemble fresh sandwiches, make soup and coffee and portion out desserts and other foods.
The church used to buy supplies from a local food purveyor and was spending almost $3,000 month.
“About a year ago we were wondering if we were going to be able to keep both the soup kitchen and the church going,” said Dee Perez, one of the nearly 200 volunteers.
To help cut costs, several of the church’s volunteers now go to Sam’s Club and Costco in order to be able to keep both the church and the soup kitchen operational, Perez explained. That has helped cut the soup kitchen’s costs nearly in half.


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Through word of mouth and diligent work by the volunteers, the soup kitchen has been able to acquire “freebies,” said Perez. “When companies have food that is near expiration, they donate it to us,” she explained.
Volunteer Kathy Brisnehan said that one of the main reasons that they don’t have as much need as before is because “Dee and Steve Perez spend their time getting things for free.” Dee Perez recently convinced the trustee of an estate to donate a dozen bags of clothes for distribution to anyone who needs clean clothes or help keeping warm.
There are a few items that are always given to the church. The desserts and bread are donated by Safeway and King Soopers, but most items the church buys.
Other contributions in the form of fresh produce come from Whole Foods and recently the restaurant Chicago donated “a whole bunch of frozen, homemade meatballs,” said Perez.
Perez said that the church pays a reasonable price for food from the Food Bank of the Rockies and there is also a small subsidy from the government in the form of six boxes of peanut butter and a couple of boxes of refried beans.
Jim Brisnehan, another volunteer, said the food bank and church also negotiate for donations with other parishes in the Denver area that do not have a homeless problem. This includes Queen of Peace in Aurora, Spirit of Christ in Arvada and Christ on the Mountain in Lakewood.


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“The Knights of Columbus also donate about $2,500 a year,” he said.
What really keeps the soup kitchen alive is the many volunteers that show up as scheduled every day. Tuesday’s team consisted of: Jim and Kathy Brisnehan and their grandson James, Larry and Rita O’Hayre and Dee and Steve Perez.
Lauretta Proulx, the office manager at St. Elizabeth’s, said that the mission statement of the church is a quote from the bible, “If you love me, feed my sheep.”
The church was dedicated in 1898 “and we would like to see it go another 100 years,” said Perez.
For information on joining the volunteers or to make a contribution, contact Lauretta Proulx at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church at (303) 534-4014.


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