Sandwiches of service: John Carroll student works with Food for Our Journey to feed the hungry

Hope Lacy spends her Sunday nights a little differently than many high school students.

Lacy, a 17-year-old senior volleyball player at John Carroll Catholic High School, makes 54 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every Sunday night.

“It’s actually not too bad,” Lacy said.

The meals aren’t for her or her classmates, but rather the poor and hungry in the Birmingham area. The sandwiches are distributed through Food for Our Journey, a faith-based initiative that utilizes a food truck to deliver meals to the hungry, thus reaching those who aren’t able to travel. During the past two and a half years, Lacy has packed an estimated 5,832 peanut butter sandwiches, which have gone directly to feed the food insecure in Birmingham.

Lacy began the work during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to fulfill service hours at the school.

"Making sandwiches for FFOJ has been a great way to check off my required service hours around my busy school and volleyball schedule,” Lacy said. “I have found that breaking the service hours into smaller amounts and doing a little bit every week has paid off. Plus, it's nice to know that what I'm doing is helping others in our community. For example, I know 54 people will have something to eat each Monday because I took time the night before to make sandwiches.”

While Lacy has not been able to go out and deliver the meals herself, at least not yet, she said she is glad to be able to help others.

“I’ve always been wanting to help people who are maybe less fortunate,” Lacy said. “Taking two seconds to compliment someone or be nice, … to volunteer, … it makes a big difference and pays off.”

Lacy said she plans on continuing service in some way when she enrolls at Auburn University in the fall, though she is not sure what she will do yet.

“It helps me feel closer to God,” Lacy said. “It gives me peace of mind knowing that I’m helping one of God’s people that maybe doesn’t have as much as me.”