Associates Cheryl Schwarz and Juliann Dwyer are keeping the Viatorian charism alive at St. Thomas More Catholic Community in Henderson, NV, including advancing one of the community’s key pillars: feeding the hungry.

Associates Cheryl Schwarz and Juliann Dwyer with Jill Heintz, of the More Youth middle school program at St. Thomas More.

The two associates worked along side of confirmation students Saturday at the Henderson Post Office. They sorted and organized donations designated for the Saint Therese Center — HIV Outreach in Henderson. The center serves persons affected by HIV/AIDS and is a ministry of the Diocese of Las Vegas. Among its array of programs is a food pantry.

Its food pantry is the only HIV outreach pantry available in southern Nevada and northern Arizona, serving more than 4,000 men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

This year, the Saint Therese Center was one of the recipients of the U.S. Postal Service Letter Carriers’ food drive. That was the good news, but they needed help in sorting all of the donations delivered by the carriers.

Enter St. Thomas More confirmation students and their teachers. In all, more than 20 students and nine adults worked in 100 degree heat to sort the non-perishable food items, which was estimated to be about 20,000 pounds.

The letter carriers restarted their food drive after a two year hiatus during the pandemic, and officials with the Saint Therese Center were grateful.

“During the month of April, we collected and distributed 213,624 pounds of food,” officials said. “We are so grateful to our many benefactors and contributing partners who help us feed those in need.”