Cathedral's "Breakfast Club" serves needy families - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS - Central Indiana students will go back to school in a few weeks. While some of them have concentrated on having fun this summer, others spent time helping others.

The Cathedral High School "Breakfast Club" is helping those on the city's near west side.

"We come here in the morning and we help cook the breakfast and once the family and the kids start arriving, we go and serve it to them," said Emma Steinken, Breakfast Club chairman.

Once a week, the students from Cathedral carpool their way to a community center and prepare breakfast for neighborhood residents who might otherwise go hungry.

"We call this 'breakfast club'," said campus minister Charlene Witka. "I think it's quite amazing, they get up at 7:30 in the morning to serve their community."

The high school started the Breakfast Club seven years ago. It was two years ago that they brought their effort to The Lord's Pantry at Anna's House, the pantry started by Lucious Newman, who launched the effort to feed his needy neighbors.

Newman passed away three years ago. His pictures hang on the walls of the pantry, reminding volunteers of his devotion to helping those less fortunate.

Sophomore Danny Getz says he and his fellow students get a feeling here they can't find elsewhere.

"It's good, because they get a nice meal, they get to spend time with their families and they don't have to worry, 'What am I going to eat this morning?'," said Getz.

For a generation whose free time might otherwise be spent texting or on social networks, Witka says this approach is what really connects teens with society.

"I hope our young people never lose the art of meeting people, looking them in the eye and saying 'Hi, what can I do for you today?'," she said. "That's kind of the social skills I worry we're losing because of texting."

"Just knowing that I've helped someone, that's a great feeling," Steinken said.