Mother of Divine Grace Interparochial Catholic School / Facebook
Families at Mother of Divine Grace Catholic School in Philadelphia are preparing mountains of homemade Italian food — not just for a feast but to keep their beloved school running.
As part of the school’s annual Italian Festival, volunteers over two days in May are cooking 140 pounds of pasta, 200 pounds of sausage, 300 pounds of peppers and onions, and 55 gallons of tomato sauce.
And for the pièce de résistance, they’ll cook 300 pounds of fresh ground beef to make 5,000 meatballs — each one a small testament to the power of community.
The future wasn’t always looking so bright for Mother of Divine Grace School. Six years ago, Mother of Divine Grace Parish was among the four Catholic parishes of Port Richmond to merge into St. John Paul II Parish.
It appeared that Mother of Divine Grace students would merge into the newly constituted Our Lady of Port Richmond Regional Catholic School, but the families wanted to have the school continue to operate as an independent school instead, Catholic Philly reported.
Thanks to devoted parents and the administration, including longtime Principal Jane Lockhart, the school became independent and is flourishing. With just 160 students, the school raises about $100,000 each year through the joyful, food-filled celebration that locals eagerly anticipate.
“(The festival) is very important,” volunteer Fran Harrigan said. “We’re a small school. We have devoted families. It’s an independent school so we rely on fundraisers. This helps keep our school open.”
Catholic Philly noted that parents come together every year to prepare food for the festival. This year, the event will take place May 29-31 and June 5-7.
The evening begins with sit-down dinners in the school hall at 5 p.m., while children’s games, entertainment, and carnival-style food like sausage and peppers and friend dough are available outside starting at 6 p.m.
The festival’s committee chairman, Ken Thierren, is a chef of 25 years with three children enrolled at Mother of Divine Grace.
As the chef browned meatballs and about 20 volunteers continued to prepare food for the festival, he told Catholic Philly that the team would cook and freeze 2,800 meatballs that day.
Each one, the outlet reported, is “larger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball and packed with flavor.”
Between the camaraderie of cooking a massive amount of Italian fare, lively games and fellowship, the festival has become more than a fundraiser. It’s a reminder that where two or three gather in Christ’s name — and maybe a few thousand meatballs — miracles can still happen.
