Saint Patrick Parish Transitions as Backpack Program Relocates to Serve Better

Since 2021, Saint Patrick Parish has been home to the Hudson Area Backpack Program. During this time the program has grown immensely to the point of distributing more than 70,000 pounds of food annually. While it started as a program providing food to students in Hudson area schools for the weekends, when school lunches are not available, it has grown to be the largest distributor of food in Hudson. 

Without a permanent home, the Backpack Program took up residence in our parish. Our garage space became a food warehouse, and our parking lot and parish hall became food distribution sites twice a week. At times, more than 100 cars per day passed through our parking lot to pick up food.

With such growth and a desire for continued growth and to better serve the community, more than a year ago, the Backpack Program started looking for a permanent home that they could call their own. They also wanted to find a space where other nonprofit organizations that serve the people of our community could join them. They finally landed on the old Catalyst/Twin Cities Orthopedic building on the corner of O’Keefe Road and Hanley Road. 

This past week the Backpack Program moved all their food, shelving, and refrigerator units from our building to their new location. It is strange seeing the garage space so empty after three years of being stocked from floor to ceiling with pallets of food. Not having long lines of cars wrapping around our parking lot several times a week will also seem strange. We wish the Backpack Program and Operation Help, who have joined together at the new location, God’s blessing as they continue to serve the people of the greater Hudson area. They are in a great location and have a great building to serve our community.

The first order of business for our space is to get our downstairs floor waxed. We had put this off until the Backpack Program moved out. The week of July 8, the downstairs area will be closed off Monday through Friday for maintenance work to be completed. Before we move things into the garage area, we want to do some planning. We got office furniture from the old Norlake office building for our parish and school offices. This will be stored in the garage until we are ready to move it to the offices. We are currently looking at our office spaces in the church and will rearrange and construct some walls. We are short on office spaces and so are developing some additional spaces. 

Finally, we now have candles available to light by the first-class relic of Blessed Father Solanus Casey in our Eucharistic Chapel. We are asking for a $2 donation for each seven-hour candle that is lit. We continue to have the larger seven-day candles by the statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. For these candles, we ask for a donation of $5 per candle. 

Why do Catholics light candles by statues or relics? People who light candles often feel it gives them a spiritual connection with Jesus, who the Gospels call the “light of the world.” When a candle is lit, a prayer should accompany the lighting. The prayer might be a prayer of gratitude or thanksgiving. It could also be a prayer for someone who is sick or for other requests we might be bringing to God. The prayer could also be for someone who has died. Lighting a candle reminds us that amid darkness, the light of God’s love and mercy is always brighter and will conquer the darkness that sometimes enters our lives.

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