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| September 6, 2008 |
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St. John Vianney Parish choir will sing for food
Donal Noonan said the idea for a "food for song" concert came from a combination of things, but primarily, he remembered last year the parish had a food drive for Thanksgiving, and that planted a seed in his head. “We’re not looking for money, but we’re looking for you to clean out your pantry and give us the contents, and we’ll put it to good use,” Noonan said.ED FOSTER JR. | FC FILE 2004 ST. PETE BEACH | The songs selected for an upcoming concert by Donal Noonan, director of music ministries and performing arts at St. John Vianney Parish and School in St. Pete Beach, tell the purpose of the event. Some of the songs to be performed at this food pantry fundraiser include “Table of Plenty,” “I Am the Bread of Life” and “Share your Bread With the Hungry.” So it makes sense that the “fee” to attend is a modest but practical one for this time of year: Just bring some canned or dry food, he said. “Share Your Bread “This time of year, people need food,” he said. “So let’s give them a good meal.” The concert will take place Sunday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., and will last about an hour. Whatever food is donated will be given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which runs a food pantry at the parish. Noonan said the idea came from a combination of things, but primarily, he remembered last year the parish had a food drive for Thanksgiving, and that planted a seed in his head. So he thought holding a concert to invite people to donate food would be a great way to raise more food. “We’re not looking for money, but we’re looking for you to clean out your pantry and give us the contents, and we’ll put it to good use,” said Noonan, a native of Ireland. He added that monetary donations would be accepted, as well. Noonan started the choir soon after he arrived at the parish to become music director about three and a half years ago. It consists of three singers, and the instruments played include a piano, a keyboard, drums and a guitar, he said. During the concert, there will be several people who will discuss about the needs of the homeless and what they have witnessed in helping the poor. Dan Gionet, president of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society’s conference, who helps run the food pantry at St. John Vianney, said the parish helps those in need Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and noon. Assistance offered ranges from handing out bus passes to giving out food to paying bills, including rent, he said. Services are for people who live within the parish boundaries, and they don’t have to be Catholic to receive some type of assistance, he said. The money raised for this outreach is gathered from the church’s poor boxes. The pantry is stocked by parishioners dropping off canned food during “food Sunday,” or from those who drop it off at other times, Gionet said. He said he has seen an increase recently in the number of people who need help. The high price of gas, the downturn in the housing market and rising rents are all contributing to that, he said. And so Gionet said he was happy to hear that Noonan and the contemporary choir are going to put on a concert to obtain more food donations. Right now the food pantry is not in bad shape, but there is always a need for food. Whatever surplus the pantry has is sent to the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s downtown St. Petersburg location, which feeds about 200 poor and homeless people three times a day, he said. “I don’t think a time ever comes when we or the downtown people ever say we have too much food,” Gionet said. One of the singers in the choir, Leisa Foronda, a teacher at St. John Vianney Catholic School, said she does not have a lot to give; she and her husband have a mortgage, three children, cars “that are running into the ground,” and not a lot of spare time. Music is “the only thing I can give,” she said. She is happy to be able to help the homeless and the poor by singing at the concert, she said. “I feel like if you have two of something and someone else has nothing, you give one to them,” she said. “It goes back to what we learned in kindergarten and that’s called sharing.” Noonan said he has learned a valuable lesson in faith by putting together the concert. “Being 25 in today’s society and going to school part time and teaching part time and working in church full time, something like this makes you take a step back and makes you become aware of how fortunate you are. And it makes you aware of God’s grace and his ability to empower others to help by utilizing your talents and the workplace you have,” he said.
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