Notre Dame of Bethlehem Parish got the most votes in the Cooks With Collars competition, but the true winners are the tens of thousands of people in our communities helped by the Catholic Church very year.
Thanks to donations to Cooks With Collars, a friendly cooking contest among diocesan priests, a total of nearly $225,000 was raised for parishes and Catholic Charities to continue the important work of bringing the Light of Christ to those in need.
During the competition, people visited www.CooksWithCollars.com and “voted” for their favorite cooking videos by making donations directly to the parish. Sponsors of the program provided additional financial support, which went to Catholic Charities.
In the winning video, Monsignor Thomas Baddick of Notre Dame led a team of singing assistant cooks (to the chorus of that popular Mexican folk song), “Aye, Aye, aye, aye, aye … I am the Chili Monsignor,” in making scrumptious heart-healthy turkey chili. His video garnered $35,709 for his parish’s ministries.
In second place, Monsignor Thomas Koons of Assumption B.V.M. Parish in Northampton, assisted by his sister, Dr. Rose Trout, and longtime parishioner Jane Spengler, made his mom’s mouth-watering kiffles in an entertaining and instructional video. There’s a link to the recipe on the parish website. The video raised $33,425 for parish ministries.
Bishop Alfred Schlert thanked the priests, deacons, sisters, seminarians and parishioners who appeared in the cooking videos, and also thanked the thousands of donors and sponsors who made the program a success.
“It’s extremely gratifying to see the amount of money that has been raised, thanks to contributions of parishioners and sponsors, to advance the good works that are much-needed in our communities,” he said.
Parishes around the Diocese routinely provide help to people in need through food pantries, and through direct donations such as clothing, bus passes, school supplies and help with Catholic school tuition.
Catholic Charities operates soup kitchens, provides counseling, battles homelessness, and provides compassionate care to people throughout the region, regardless of their religion.
Cooks With Collars featured 27 videos from parishes around the Diocese, with priests and their helpers making everything from pierogies to Peking duck. The videos are informative and fun, and have had thousands of views on www.CooksWithCollars.com, as well as on YouTube.
For a better idea of the community aid provided by our parishes, Catholic Charities, and other diocesan entities, visit this link
For a Cooks With Collars closing prayer, featuring many of the cooking priests, click here.
Copy Permalink
