Photo: Frank Sorice manager at Operation Blessing of Southwest Chicagoland located in Crestwood. File photoNo government food if you pray.
That was the ultimatum issued by a state inspector to a charitable organization that runs a food pantry for the poor in Crestwood.
And the Illinois Department of Human Services has made good on the threat.
“We told them that we’re not going to stop praying here, and so they stopped sending us food from the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture),” said Frank Sorice, manager of Operation Blessing-South.
Here’s a statement from a spokeswoman for the state agency:
“The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) regrets Operation Blessing-South’s choice to withdraw from the USDA Commodities Program. Under federal rules, organizations that receive such USDA assistance are prohibited from using it to support any inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction or proselytization, during food distribution.
“IDHS did not terminate Operation Blessing-South’s participation. The group withdrew after being made aware that religious activities must be conducted separately from food distribution.”
Sorice told me his organization provides food to about 1,200 families, or 4,000 people, each month. The area it serves stretches from 79th Street in Chicago on the north to 175th Street on the south and Halsted Street on the east to LaGrange Road on the west.
Sorice said about 20 percent of the pantry’s food comes from the USDA and is distributed by the Greater Chicago Food Depository,
“We are a ministry, and we believe in the power of prayer,” Sorice, a former minister, said.
“But we don’t force anyone to pray.”
I asked Sorice to explain what happens when someone walks into his pantry.
“We take them into an office and have them fill out some simple forms required by the government,” Sorice said. “Then we ask them if they want to pray. If they say ‘no,’ they leave the office, get their food and go on their way. If they say ‘yes,’ we join with them in prayer.
“Everyone here, except for me, is a volunteer, and the reason they volunteer here is because they believe in God and they believe in prayer.
“I was warned about two weeks ago that we would be cut off from our USDA food if we didn’t stop praying. The inspector came through here and just said, ‘You’re praying for people. You can’t do that.’ I was like, ‘Duh! That’s what we do here.’
“We have people come in here who are downhearted, they haven’t worked in two years, a lot of them are construction types who have never had to ask for help in their lives, and if they feel like praying we are going to pray with them. Accepting God into your life can be very empowering, and these people are feeling pretty helpless.”
Bob Dolgan, a spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, told me his organization had no choice in the matter.
“We distribute the food on behalf of the USDA in Chicago, and the program is operated by the IDHS, which inspects the pantries,” Dolgan said. “They called us and told us not to deliver any more USDA food to Operation Blessing because it is engaging in prayer. We have to do what they tell us to do.”
He said the Greater Chicago Food Depository still sends food to Operation Blessing-South, just not food provided by the USDA, which is primarily canned goods.
“We also gave Operation Blessing some options so it might be able to continue receiving USDA food, such as only praying after food is distributed and posting a sign near the exit that says if you are interested in praying with us, let us know,” Dolgan said.
The food depository distributes food to 650 pantries and soup kitchens in Cook County and has seen its clientele increase by 60 percent in the last three years.
“We do everything we can to make sure every food pantry has food, and we’ll do what we can to provide food for Operation Blessing,” Dolgan said.
When I asked if that meant the organization would replace the food lost from the USDA, he said that would “be possible” but there would be a cost to Operation Blessing-South.
Sorice said most of his organization’s donations come from private individuals, “$5 and $10 contributions.”
The IDHS statement concluded that “the service provided by Operation Blessing-South is extremely beneficial to the residents of Crestwood and the surrounding area, and IDHS supports faith-based partners in food distribution efforts. However, all participating groups must comply with the federal rules that govern the program.”
God bless the bureaucrats.
