A Carmelite nun fretted when her ministry to the homeless was curtailed due to the pandemic.

Closing the doors of Sister BJ's Pantry for the Homeless in March saddened Sister Barbara Joseph Foley but she was determined to find a way to help her homeless friends despite COVID-19.

Her dream became reality when her new Sister BJ's Pantry bus recently hit the streets of downtown Oklahoma City.

Loaded up with hot breakfast and sacks filled with lunch and snacks, the bus driven by the ministry's volunteers delivers food to homeless men and women on Sunday mornings.

Foley, 68, drove the bus for its inaugural run in October.

At first, people didn't know what to make of the bus because it initially had no name or logo on it.

"But then they peeked inside and said, 'Oh! It's Sister BJ!' It was wonderful," Foley said.

"For months, we weren't even able to go out and have the pantry open either. It kept ripping at my heart."

She said she loved seeing some of the people who had been coming to her food pantry and garden, 819 NW 4, over the last 15 years.

"I got to see some of the people I hadn't seen for a while. When you've done this for as long as I have, you get to know people," Foley said. "Driving around, you get to find them."

Foley came up with the idea to buy a shuttle bus that could be transformed for food delivery but her ministry had no money to make it happen. She said she and her volunteers prayed about the situation during a Zoom meeting.

A few days later, the nun received a check for "more than enough" to purchase the bus.

"It's the miracle that we've seen happen over and over again," she said.

These days, the vehicle features the ministry's logo and mission statement. However, homeless individuals were already becoming more familiar with the food delivery as evidenced by a recent Sunday morning excursion.

By 7:30 a.m., volunteer Ryan Maxwell was on the road with volunteer couple Pam and Tim Archer. The trio attends Our Lady's Cathedral and they have have been working with Foley's ministry for several years.

The first stop was St. Eugene Catholic Church where members of the Order of Malta had cooked breakfast burritos to be distributed for breakfast.

Peter de Keratry, an Order of Malta member and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's executive director of stewardship and development, said he liked giving back in this way.

"Basically our mission is to care for the poor and the sick and to defend the faith," de Keratry said. "Our partner Sister BJ is so wonderful to work with and she does so much good."

He said his group had been traveling to Foley's food pantry once a month to cook the burritos but they could cook the food in the church's larger kitchen with the arrival of the bus.

"This bus was a big deal. Now that we have that bus we upped that to one Sunday a week. It's worked out OK," de Keratry said. "It's a great way to have a hands-on practical impact with people."

Maxwell steered the bus toward downtown Oklahoma City after the fresh burritos were loaded onto the bus. The volunteers, de Keratry included, stopped at the food pantry to load up sacks of lunch and snacks and they headed to areas where homeless individuals congregate.

Maxwell said they typically go to the Oklahoma City Homeless Alliance where they have found many homeless people in the parking lot on Sunday mornings.

He said they also go to an area near NW 2 and Virginia Avenue as well as a location near a fast food restaurant close to the intersection of Sheridan and Western avenues. The volunteers also take blankets, gloves and other items to give to the homeless at the more populated areas and to any homeless individuals they see on the street while they are driving around.

At the Homeless Alliance, about 20 people quickly formed a line to receive the free breakfast and lunch sacks offered by the volunteers.

One of the people in line, James Derrick, said he worked as a truck driver for 20 years but fell on hard times after hurting his back. He said he appreciated the meals delivered by the food pantry volunteers.

"I love it. On the weekends this place here is close so we kind of enjoy the Fritos and other things they bring us," Derrick said. "On Sundays, no one's around so we consider it a blessing."

Meanwhile, a vacant lot near NW 2 and Virginia seemed empty at first glance. However, after Maxwell parked the van, people came out from tents and makeshift shelters among the trees and brush. Many of them threw on jackets to keep warm in the cold morning air as they waited their turn for the burritos and other goodies.

A man who said his name was David described himself as "crying street preacher."

"I have to say this is a blessing them coming out here with food," he said.

Maxwell said he works downtown and he has seen more homeless on the streets since the March shutdown.

"We're trying to help as many as we can," he said.

De Keratry agreed.

"We'd love to solve the broader issues of homelessness but at a practical level, we can give someone a hot breakfast," he said.

Volunteers keep

mobile ministry

going

These days, Foley doesn't participate in the weekly food deliveries but it's not that she doesn't want to.

She is the mother superior for her religious order, the Carmelite Sisters of St. Therese, and she doesn't go out much to avoid exposure to COVID-19. Foley said she wants to protect her fellow sisters in this way so she limits her movements and has mostly stayed inside with them at their convent at St. Ann's Retirement center.

"It's hard not to be out there," she said.

The nun said she knows volunteers like Maxwell and others will continue the food pantry ministry and its bus will stay on the road.

Faith Editor Carla

Hinton edits The

Oklahoman’s Spiritual

Life section, and covers faith and spirituality, and related

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