Holy Family Catholic Community Blessed Bites program celebrates five years

Holy Family Catholic Community’s meal-to-go program, Blessed Bites, is celebrating five years of operation this month.

Blessed Bites started in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic when food pantries saw a dramatic uptick in the need for food, as individuals and families faced increased financial hardship.

While the number of those struggling to find and afford food grew, many pantries struggled to operate as usual due to conditions from the pandemic, including food and staffing shortages.

To help fill the gap, Holy Family Catholic Community began Blessed Bites. Every Tuesday at St. Mary Church, at 59 E. Merrill Ave., Blessed Bites provides free to-go meals, non-perishable food, and hygiene and home care products like toothpaste and detergent, to those in need in the Fond du Lac area. The program runs from 4:00 to 4:30 pm — or until meals run out.

Although the pandemic has passed, Holy Family Catholic Community says the need has not waned. In the past couple of years, the program has seen the number of meals needed increase.

Meals served at Blessed Bites are made by Holy Family parishioners and members of the greater Fond du Lac community.

The program is supported through donations of meals, non-perishable food items, and other care products. Local businesses and organizations have also contributed to Blessed Bites by making monetary donations and hosting drives to collect items distributed to those utilizing the program.

To date, Blessed Bites has served approximately 17,000 meals.

In celebration of the program’s five years of service, Holy Family Catholic Community is holding an anniversary food drive. The parish will collect non-perishable food items at the Holy Family Parish Office, at 271 Fourth Street Way, the week of September 15th during the hours of 7:30 am to 4:15 pm Monday-Thursday and 7:30 am to noon on Friday. Items can also be dropped off at any of the parish’s churches the weekend of September 20-21.

For a list of the parish’s locations, please visit https://www.hffdl.org/locations/