St. Justin Parish

"In spring of '88 a tiny notice in the Parish Bulletin caught the attention of some members of St. Justin's, a simple appeal to help "feed the hungry" in a city neighborhood peopled with many who had few or no resources. Margaret Sommer, Eileen Embree, Sis Kropuinik and Michele Casey were a part of the first group who agreed to serve one meal a month in the hall at St. Peter & Paul church in Soulard.

Those first few meals were a learning experience - how many will be served? The poor don't make reservations...be prepared for 40 or 70...numbers quite a bit smaller than the 140 to 200 plus we serve there today. We experimented with different recipes. Some of them disastrous like scouring large pans in my driveway for days still haunt me whenever someone mentions "chicken kiev.

In time we recruited more neighbors and friends to help out, spawned other teams (St. Justin's now has 3 groups), developed into a close-knit band of volunteers and friends, and met and formed friendships with so many of our guests.

Sixteen years later, would we start it all over? YOU BET!"

Eileen Embree