She also pointed to a connection with the soup kitchen’s namesake, who herself spent her childhood and young adult life in the parish before becoming a Franciscan sister and heading to Hawaii to care for lepers.
“Saint Marianne Cope grew up in West Utica very near my own childhood West Utica homestead. Unknowing at the time, I walked past her home as my siblings and I walked to St. Joseph's School -- now the site of the West Side Kitchen.”
Saint Marianne “was baptized at St. Joseph's,” she notes, “which was my childhood parish, where I was married, and had my children baptized.” Plus, the future saint “was confirmed at Historic St. John's Church, which is my current parish.”
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| Marianne Turczyn receives plaque from Advisory Board Chair Darren Woods, thanking her for her support. |
Marianne says she is impressed by “the good works of the kitchen, with its dedicated volunteers,” providing “the basic needs for daily food and fellowship on the west side.”
She got to tour the building during the recent rededication.
”As I climbed the stairs to what was once our school auditorium, I was pleasantly surprised to find space used as a lovely boutique for the kitchen's clients.”
Marianne wished us “a Blessed Christmas and New Year filled with good health and a sense of fulfillment as you carry on Jesus’ work.”
That work is made possible by people like Marianne. In fact, because of her persistence, we were able to set up a brokerage account through St. Joseph and St. Patrick Church to accept stock donations benefitting the soup kitchen. She donated stock last year -- the first to do so. But it doesn’t stop there. She just recently donated more shares.
