HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) – In Hastings, Catholic Social Services feeds people in bulk. This nonprofit uses three levels of a downtown brick building that was once a bar and then an Ace Hardware store. Across the railroad, a warehouse serves as the drop-off point for more goods.

Catholic Social Services offers many religious and economic resources to those in need, but three programs are dedicated to feeding people. These include the Open Table sack lunches, food recovery services and food boxes.

Volunteers pack paper bags with sandwiches, granola bars, fruit cups and beverages. During designated hours, passersby can pick up lunch from the Open Table.

“It’s no questions asked, just come up,” said John McDonald, the Hastings regional director. “We’ll give you one sack lunch per person. And that’s there per day.”

Last year, the organization gave out 34,000 sack lunches.

Catholic Social Services was founded in 2004 by the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.

Their logo is circular with a cross to resemble the Eucharist. On the logo’s left side is an arched road, representing the urban areas of the diocese. On the right side is a green hill, representing the rural areas.

The Hastings location feeds primarily the people who live in this green hill.

Catholic Social Services started the food recovery program six years ago through a partnership with the Foodbank for the Heartland in Omaha. This largescale food bank is a nonprofit that feeds 93 communities in Nebraska and western Iowa. Seventy-seven of these communities are in Nebraska.

On Mondays and Thursdays, volunteers pick up surplus food from Walmart, Sam’s Club and Dollar General in Grand Island and Hastings. The trucks will also drive recovered food to 16 towns, including the Crossroads Homeless Shelter in Hastings.

Then the perishable and nonperishable items are sorted.

“We get the perishable food that’s necessary. That’s still good,” McDonald said. “Some of it was past expiration date, but there are different guidelines that the food bank uses, and you know what’s good past the expiration date. There’s very nice list that they give us, and so we know what from the selection what is technically expired.”

In 2022, 350,000 pounds of food were redistributed.

Lastly, people need to apply to receive help from the food box program. Volunteers pack boxes of nonperishables and supplement with what they have in stock.

“We’re hoping to add more choice and selection to these food boxes and getting more food too getting more ethnic food so that people know we can supplement their eating habits,” McDonald said. “We have a lot of Hispanic families that come, and I think our food pantry is pretty basic with non-perishable items.”

Last year, the program gave away 418 boxes to people in need. To help food services flow smoother, McDonald is meeting with an architect in the fall to discuss renovation plans.

Alongside 16 paid staff members, volunteers put in around 10,000 hours of work.

“Hastings is a very philanthropic community, and a very strong community,” McDonald said. “And so with that, comes lots of organizations like Crossroads Catholic Social Services, Salvation Army, you’ve got United Way. And there’s just a lot of opportunities for food in the community. So I’d say those who are hungry are the ones that are going to these organizations and getting a food box or a sack lunch or picking up surplus food from us.”

Catholic Social Services hosts giveaways around the holidays, and after Thanksgiving will be the Christmas giveaway called the Good Angel Tree event. People will be able to get toys, a good box, diapers and other supplies on Dec. 16. Christmas toy giveaway along with a food box, diapers is Dec. 16.

People can sign up by calling (402)463-2112. They can volunteer by filling out this form on the Catholic Social Services website.

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