Date Set For Annual Salt And Pepper Luncheon

Amarillo—The 16 ^th annual Salt and Pepper Luncheon, sponsored by Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle, will take place Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 11:30am at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 4100 South Coulter.

Keynote speaker for the luncheon will be Capuchin priest Father Vincent “Vinny” Fortunato, according to CCTXP executive director Nancy Koons. Tickets are $25.00 each for the luncheon and table sponsorships range from $250 to $5,000. Funds from the luncheon will benefit the agency’s Inter-Faith Hunger Project.

The Salt and Pepper Luncheon began with a discovery made by a volunteer driver.
“Eighteen years ago, an Inter-Faith Hunger Project volunteer driver was delivering food to a homebound elderly widow and discovered she was having salt and pepper soup for lunch,” said Koons. “With empty cupboards and an empty refrigerator, this resourceful woman boiled water, added salt and pepper and made salt and pepper soup. This harsh reality served as a call to action to work harder in increasing our capacity to serve, and the first Salt and Pepper luncheon was planned.”

Now in its 29 ^th year, the Inter-Faith Hunger Project is located on the first floor of the Guyon Saunders Resource Center at 200 South Tyler. Approximately 755 people are enrolled in this program; over 80 are homebound individuals to whom boxes of food are delivered by volunteer drivers, according to Koons.

Based in Wilmington, Del., Father Fortunato is an ordained priest with the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. He has served his community for 20 years in Formation Ministry and as Provincial Minister for six years. Father Fortunato has a Masters of Divinity Degree from Darlington Seminary and a Master of Arts Degree in Spirituality from Creighton University. He also has certifications in Spiritual Direction and Directed Retreats.

For additional information on the Salt and Pepper Luncheon, contact Linda Durante at 376-4571 or go to the agency’s website, www.cctxp.org.