Five Philadelphia members of the Order of Malta-Federal Association, USA delivered a $25,000 check to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput for the purchase of refrigerators and freezers for the Montgomery County Food Cupboard in Norristown. The Food Cupboard, an outreach ministry of Catholic Social Services, has fed over 35,000 people from nearly 10,000 households from throughout Montgomery County this year. The new commercial grade appliances will help to expand the cupboard’s food storage capacity, and will facilitate an improved experience for clients.
Clair Raubenstine, Coordinator of the Order’s Federal Association in Philadelphia, and his wife Jeanne Raubenstine (also a member of the Order) initiated the project and identified the Food Cupboard as a ‘hands-on’ local service project for members of the Order. A group of the Order’s local members meets every month and assists with stocking shelves and reorganizing food for visits by the following week’s clients.
Local member John Hoy, a parishioner at St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Wales, PA and a member of the Federal Association Board of Directors, explained the rationale for the gift: “The Federal Association provides Grants annually to deserving organizations in which Federal Association members are active, especially those programs which serve the poor or sick in our communities.” The Norristown Food Cupboard serves veterans, the elderly, the working poor, and immigrant families who aren’t able to meet their monthly food needs without this vital assistance. “The Food Cupboard’s program does great work on a small budget, so funds for this equipment will enable it to better serve its clients,” said Hoy. His wife Karen Hoy, also member of the Order, was instrumental in writing and presenting the grant request.
Liz Peteraf, Administrator of CSS Family Services in Montgomery Country, is overjoyed with what this donation will enable them to do: “Our plan for this donation is to arrange our space and purchase equipment that will provide our food clients with a dignified ‘shopping’ experience, offering them nutritional food and a meaningful interaction with a volunteer. With this grant, we will be able to offer more spacious areas with attractive glass door refrigerators to allow clients to choose the food items they are looking for, rather than being handed a pre-packaged bag of food.” Peteraf is grateful for the service commitment of the local members of the Order of Malta, who are among more than fifty dedicated monthly volunteers who together account for nearly 500 volunteer hours a month. The CSS Food Cupboard in Norristown helps local grocers to utilize their overstock meat and produce, and in turn distributes over 30,000 pounds a month of food.
The Order of Malta is an international Catholic lay religious Order founded in the Holy Land in the 11th century, whose mission is the defense of the faith and assistance to the poor and suffering, through the voluntary work carried out by the Knights and Dames of the Order. With international headquarters in Rome, the Order operates a maternity hospital in Bethlehem, Palestine and provides humanitarian assistance in the form of medical, food and disaster relief services around the world. More than 900 U.S. Catholic men and women are members of the Order’s Federal Association, founded in 1974 in Washington, D.C.
