WNEP Video Screengrab / YouTube
CV NEWS FEED // The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, just launched its fourth annual Rectory, Set, Cook! event, a Lenten cooking competition between priests that raises money to feed the hungry and shelter those experiencing homelessness.
The fundraising website posts videos of 30 priests and their cooking teams, and viewers can make a $10 gift to vote on their favorite recipe. The competition, which began March 4 and will end April 10, is sponsored by various local businesses.
The website also includes a leaderboard. So far, Monsignor John Sempa, the pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in West Pittston, and Father Michael Drevitch, his assistant pastor, are in the lead.
Msgr. Sempa — who has been Fr. Drevitch’s pastor since childhood — made pineapple Jell-O, and Fr. Drevitch, with the help of Msgr. Sempa’s sister, Cheryl Sempa Radkiewicz, made “can’t leave alone” bars. Three elementary-school age parishioners judged the desserts.
Not far behind them are Father Shawn M. Simchock and his Easter pizza. The temporary administrator of Saint Ann Parish in Williamsport, Fr. Simchock used to be a Perkins restaurant manager. He made this complicated deep-dish pizza without assistance from any other chefs.
As of publication, this year’s fundraiser has raised nearly $58,000 to help local soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
Since its start in 2021, the cooking competition has raised more than $500,000, WNEP, an ABC affiliate for northeastern and central Pennsylvania, reports. Last year, the priests set a record for the competition when they raised $217,000.
Father Cyril Edwards, who told WNEP that he is defending his record as worst cook in the diocese and that he just learned how to make a grilled cheese this year, also spoke of the importance of the fundraiser.
“The poor must be fed. That’s why we’re here,” Fr. Edwards said. “That’s what Jesus said to do — take care of the poor. If we need some fun to do it, we’ll do it.”
