Feed My Starving Children offers a distinctly high-energy and engaging service opportunity, and Viatorian groups serve there often. Now, we’ll have another connection to FMSC, as Associate Brian Liedlich begins a new job there as Major Gifts Officer.
Associate Brian Liedlich
Brian served as President of Saint Viator High School from 2016 to 2021, the first lay person to be named to the position after 65 years of leadership by professed Viatorians. Brian brought a background in development and philanthropy and had previously served as Executive Director of Institutional Advancement for the school, in addition to sending his own children there.
For the last few years, Brian scaled back and worked independently. He studied leadership coaching and started a private practice. He also continued working with Uncharted Learning, which had brought an incubator program to Saint Viator, and sought to help the company expand its reach in Catholic and private schools. Lately, he started to think about scaling back up.
“I first became aware of the organization as a volunteer, packing meals there with groups a dozen times with students while I was president,” Brian said. “I’ve always been impressed with how they handle the volunteer experience, and I found out about this job from a friend.”
A few of the Viatorian visits to FMSC: Peace Camp 2024 (left), Service & Song 2022 (top right), and an AH-Chicago Regional Service Day in 2025 (bottom right).
Viatorian groups are regulars to packing sessions at the location in Schaumburg, Illinois, including Saint Viator High School student groups, SVHS Service & Song participants, Viator House of Hospitality groups, and Viatorian regional service trips.
Brian will now support FMSC’s fixed packing sites, mobile packing events, and international distribution partners by securing major gifts. “I feel like I have something left in the tank, and this is a good organization to contribute to. My work will be connecting with people and building relationships, which has always been my favorite part of my jobs,” Brian said. “It’s easy to be in a bubble in suburban Chicago and not reach out to or serve people society accounts of little importance. You have to look for things to be plugged into. This is living out Gospel values in a way consistent with the Viatorian charism, which is important for me.”
At FMSC, 99.8% of meals successfully reach hungry kids, and the organization has earned 19 straight years of 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator.
Fr. John Eustice, CSV, who served with Brian as SVHS VP for Mission and Identity, shares a a fist bump with Brian at an unconventional, pandemic-era outdoor graduation ceremony at a baseball stadium in 2020.
With such efficiency behind an essential mission, Brian loves how simple his presentation can be. “Last fiscal year, they packed over 375 million meals and fed over 1 million children, yet existing partners who distribute food in areas of need requested 550-600 million meals. We’re limited by finances, and we have an unmet need before us,” Brian explained. “I can tell people that if you make us a greater priority in your practice of philanthropy, we’ll buy more ingredients; we’ll pack more meals; and we’ll feed more kids.”
We congratulate Brian and pray for his important work meeting the world’s hunger!
