Catholic Charities is planning a large multi-purpose expansion at the site of the Parish Kitchen, a well-known food ministry in Covington.
The expansion will not only augment the Parish Kitchen itself but also two other ministries associated with Catholic Charities, a mobile food pantry called Food for Friends and Pickett’s Corner.
“It’s building for the future,” Catholic Charities Executive Director Chris Goddard told LINK nky.
Parish Kitchen provides daily lunches for people in need, while the mobile food pantry delivers a week’s worth of food once a month to residents in six rural counties surrounding Northern Kentucky.
Pickett’s Corner refurbishes and repairs bicycles before distributing them to the community.
The expansion will augment the Parish Kitchen building by adding on a 25′ by 30′ facility for storing the truck for the mobile food pantry. It will also feature a covered patio for performing bike repairs as well as a loft for storing donated items. The patio would also serve as a space for volunteers to interview guests.
“We are in desperate need of additional storage,” Goddard said. “So, this would accommodate that, allowing us to store things like sleeping bags or blankets, seasonal items, donations that are given to us that we just have no room [for].”
The Parish Kitchen serves approximately 50,000 meals annually, according to Catholic Charities. Pickett’s Corner, meanwhile, has distributed over 800 bikes since its inception in 2022, and the mobile food pantry has delivered meals to approximately 17,000 people over the past fiscal year.
“Parish Kitchen means so much to me and the community,” one guest told Catholic Charities, who shared the statement with LINK nky. “They have always been a warm, friendly face that helps the community.”
Catholic Charities is currently raising money to help fund the expansion. If they’re able to reach $50,000 in donations from the community by June 30, every one of those $50,000 donations will be matched by well-known local philanthropist Oakley Farris. The campaign still needs about $17,000 to reach its goal.
The ministries serve anyone who needs help, regardless of their background, religion or otherwise. As such, Catholic Charities Institutional Advancement Associate Jennifer Abdrabbo said, it takes a village to support services like those offered in the three ministries.
“It takes the community to provide for an organization like this,” Abdrabbo said.
You can donate to the expansion efforts by filling out the organization’s online form, and you can learn more about the three ministries and their work at covingtoncharities.org.