Archdiocese of Vancouver sponsors banquet for the poor during International Eucharistic Congress

The B.C. Catholic



When thousands of pilgrims arrive in Cebu in the Philippines for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress this month, the poor will not be left out.

A group of Catholics from the Archdiocese of Vancouver have planned a feast for at least 700 less fortunate Filipinos during the Jan. 24-31 congress.

“The purpose of the Table of Hope Banquet is to make the International Eucharistic Congress meaningful to the poor and to give the poor a dignified participation,” said organizer Teresita Nixon.

Nixon, head of the Aquinas Institute, said at least 700 street children from Cebu and neighbouring areas, and 300 volunteers, will share a meal at an IEC venue Jan. 23.

They will be served rice, pork, chicken, and dessert, sharing tables with priests. There are also 1,200 gift bags for them with rosaries, toiletries, canned goods, and packages of rice and noodles.

“The Table of Hope banquet symbolizes the love of Jesus for the poor, and His feeding the multitude,” Nixon said.

She came up with the idea in August after meeting with caterer Peter Siglos, who volunteers as a cook at The Door is Open, a drop-in centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Siglos told her that he and friend Rudy Tuliao could serve meals to 500 people at a time.

That statement “opened my eyes,” she said. Nixon got to work finding out how to feed that many people in Cebu during the IEC.

She flew there, met with Bishop Dennis Villarojo, the secretary general of the IEC, and they came up with the Table of Hope.

The plans grew to feeding 1,000 people instead of 500, serving meals at an IEC pavilion rather than a parish hall, and having priests sit down to eat with the poor.

La Fortuna Bakery and Restaurant will cater the event. The owner is a friend of Father Edgar Polotan, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Delta.

Father Polotan jumped on board, supporting fundraisers at his parish and taking charge of arranging the catering and ordering tables and chairs.

Other local priests have been involved: Father Dennis Flores supervised the goodie bag project and Father Nicholas Tumbelaka held a second collection for the Table of Hope at Our Lady of Mercy Parish.

Parishes including All Saints, and St. Mary’s in Vancouver, had Filipino food sales to raise funds for the banquet, while about a dozen other parishes donated to the cause.

Only a few of the many local Catholics intent on putting this event together will be in Cebu in time to dish up the meals. Among them will be members of Couples for Christ and the Neocatechumenal Way. Nixon said volunteers living in Cebu will help provide the manpower to feed the 1,000.

“It’s quite phenomenal how it’s grown,” from a “grassroots desire to feed the hungry” to such a large event, said Barbara Dowding, chairwoman of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Eucharistic Congress Planning Committee.

She said Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, will attend the IEC, and he plans to attend the Table of Hope.

Nixon, who was planning to fly to Cebu Jan. 17, asked for prayers for the success of the Table of Hope banquet.

More information about the congress in Cebu is available at www.iec2016.ph.