St. Andrew’s Feeds Tucson’s Hungry 

     The response to the Sandwich Squad has been wonderful. We now have over 130 families involved. We will be delivering 150 to 250 lunches to the Giving Tree every week. There are so many ways that we can help the disadvantaged people of Tucson. This is a great start.  

     There are many members of St. Andrew's with big hearts who have been helping the homeless people in many ways for years. One of those is Anita Degnan. Anita has been coordinating meal preparation for the Primavera Men’s Shelter with the dedicated assistance of Dick Backus, Laura Pelz, Mike Lortie, and Jim Richardson. Family and friends have frequently assisted with meal preparation as well as serving of the meals. Once a month, on the third Thursday, they prepare a meal in the church kitchen, and it is delivered to the Men’s Shelter downtown where the drivers assist with serving the meal and visiting with the men. They serve around 110-120 men every month. Primavera has a schedule for every day of the month with a different organization providing lunches or dinners. The menu consists of what has been called “St. Andrew's Chili” which includes a little of everything with rice.  Also included with the meal is fruit cocktail, bread, juice, coffee, and cookies. They occasionally have cookies provided by Girl Scout troops for the holidays. 

     St. Andrew’s support of the Primavera programs began with Ken and Nita Weihl along with several other couples, when the Primavera Foundation began in 1982. In the early 1990’s the “Clippers” couples’ group, which included the Lortie and Degnan families, took on the project. 

     The helpers have changed over the years, but the heart has not! The once-a-month cooking session is also a time of fellowship and friendship. From time to time a substitute is needed to help with cooking or serving. 

     Primavera has a terrific website that provides more information on all of their programs at www.primavera.org. If you would like to know how you can help one of the homeless organizations in Tucson, contact Craig Littlefield at craig.littlefield@comcast.net  or 299-6851.

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