By Mary Pearson
St. Mary of the Valley Parish in Yucca Valley recently contributed $5,000 to a charitable building project that will provide critically needed clean water and sanitation services to the people of Choluteca, Honduras.
The parish made the donation through ‘Food For The Poor’, a Florida-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping impoverished families and communities across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The donation St. Mary of The Valley Catholic Community to Food For The Poor (FFTP) is supporting year two of a five-year project funded by various churches around the U.S. to assist people who lack basic water, sanitation and hygiene services,” a representative of Food For the Poor told the BYTE.
The project will involve the local church leaders and residents from the Honduran communities to help create and rehabilitate water systems, construct restrooms, and implement crucial education programs about proper sanitation and good hygiene practices.
Father Mark Kotlarczyk, VF, Pastor of Saint Mary of the Valley, said the parish was contacted by a California-based representative from Food For The Poor about working together because the parish had an existing relationship with the nonprofit. Parishes will often host visiting priests from Food For The Poor, particularly to cover Masses on weekends when one of the parish priests might need to be away. This is one of the ways the nonprofit raises money for its charitable work, by having their missionary priests give presentations at parishes.
Father Kotlarczyk said that while he has not yet coordinated the time for a priest from the nonprofit to come cover masses for Saint Mary of the Valley, the parish felt a calling to give the money toward the clean water project for the people of Honduras.
“We were thinking in terms of the Corporeal Works of Mercy in coordination with the Jubilee. We thought, ‘Well, what better way to use our money than to help contribute…to give drink to the thirsty?’” Father Kotlarczyk told the BYTE.
+Pope Francis, in announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, shared his desire that Christians during the Jubilee would increase their charitable works, and particularly attached an indulgence to the Corporal Works of Mercy:
“The faithful, following the example and mandate of Christ, are encouraged to carry out works of charity or mercy more frequently, especially in the service of those brothers and sisters who are burdened by various needs. More especially, they should rediscover these “Corporal Works of Mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.” (from Pope Francis’ Decree on the Granting of Indulgences During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025)
Father Kotlarczyk added that a large portion of the $5,000 came from the parish’s Friday soup dinner donations collected during the Lenten season, during which Christians are called to pray, fast, and give alms.
“The generous gift from St. Mary of the Valley Catholic Community is an act of faith and compassion,” said FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine. “By supporting this project, the church’s parishioners… are investing in the health, dignity, and future of thousands of people in Honduras, and we are all very grateful.”
Mary Pearson is a freelance writer and parishioner of St. Martha, Murrieta.