Winnetka's Divine Mercy Parish To Mark Star Wars Day With Sack Dinner Ministry

WINNETKA, IL — Divine Mercy Parish in Winnetka will mark Star Wars Day on Monday with a themed volunteer event to prepare 300 meals for neighbors in need.

The family-friendly gathering on May 4 is scheduled from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at McNulty Hall, the parish center at 1090 Gage St., at the corner of Burr Avenue and Gage Street.

Volunteers will dress in Star Wars-themed costumes as they assemble sack dinners through the parish's Uncle Pete's Sack Dinner Ministry. The meals will benefit A Just Harvest in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood and other parish community partners.

The event is part of a regular service effort at Divine Mercy Parish. On the first Monday evening of every month, parishioners gather for Uncle Pete's Ministry to prepare sack dinners for people described in the event information as less fortunate. This month, the monthly effort will carry a "May the 4th Be With You."

The ministry traces back to Peter “Uncle Pete” Zonsius of Niles, a longtime parishioner at St. John Brebeuf Parish in Niles. He started a ministry to feed less fortunate people and would load a van with bagged lunches to distribute on Chicago's West Side.

After Zonsius died at age 90 in 2012, St. John Brebeuf parishioners and Catholics at parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago continued the ministry. Uncle Pete's Ministries began in 2010 and has distributed thousands of sack dinners to people experiencing homelessness in the Chicago area, according to the background information.

The May 4 event adds a familiar pop culture theme to that ongoing work while keeping the focus on meal preparation for local partners. Organizers describe it as family-friendly, and the one-hour format is built around volunteers gathering to make and package the dinners.

Divine Mercy Parish will host the event at its Winnetka parish center, giving parishioners and other volunteers a set time and place to take part in the monthly ministry. More information about Uncle Pete's Ministries is available through the organization at www.osbchicago.org/unclepeteministries.