It Happened in Crawford County: Deacon Julius Fritz and his journey to help those in need
Julius Fritz is the son of Philip and Loretta Hahler Fritz, and his siblings are Yvonne Brown, Leroy, Melvin and Ronald, deceased. Julius was born in Bucyrus and went to Holy Trinity School through the eighth grade where he enjoyed studying religion and history. Julius attended Bucyrus High School where he enjoyed American history, government and Junior Achievement. He graduated in 1974.
Julius enrolled at North Central Technical College and graduated with an associate degree in business. After college, around 1980, he started his own business, Das Confection Haus, located at the corner of Walnut and Mary streets. He made and sold candy, and later on, he did custom baking.
Next, he moved his shop to the corner of Poplar and West Mansfield streets and added cake decorating supplies. It was a successful business for the next 10 years. From there, Julius began working as a cashier for Meijer in Mansfield, and later as a greeter, a part of its security, for a total of 22 years. He was transferred to Meijer in Marion for two more years and retired in 2020.
During the time Julius worked for Meijer, he was ordained a deacon after five years of study. As a deacon of the Catholic Church he can perform baptisms, weddings and funerals. He also ran the Parish School of Religion for 20 years.
The birth of a community kitchen
Julius started searching for something to fill his time after retirement and noticed Holy Trinity Church had an ideal facility to open a community kitchen. It was something he always wanted to do, and now he had to figure out how to make it happen.
While in the initial fact-finding stage, Julius talked to p;astor Daniel Rebon who manages the Father’s Heart Healing Center, a community kitchen in Bucyrus. Julius wanted to learn about the possibility of the need for Holy Trinity to get involved in this ministry, too. He began with a series of "come and see" meetings to determine if parishioners would help and support the project.
It was deemed successful. St. Francis Community Kitchen was founded, and they picked a starting date of Oct. 11, 2014. They served free hot meals in the cafeteria of the former Holy Trinity School to anyone who was hungry.
Slowly over time and as needs presented themselves, they met them in their feeding ministry. They provided such things as a lunch kit people could take home for the next day. The hot meals are dine in or carry out. A normal hot meal consists of meat, veggie, potato, dessert and beverage. They cover the cost of the meals by donations from the parishioners, and they also receive money from The Community Foundation for Crawford County.
The “kitchen” accepts leftover food following big events. They welcome monetary donations, excess produce from family gardens and food of any kind. Meat is the hardest to come by because of the expense. On Memorial Day weekend 2023, the big freezer went down, they lost hundreds of pounds of food. People stepped up to the plate. One parishioner donated 80 pounds of hamburger. God will provide.
Coat and blanket ministry added, joining with St. Francis Kitchen
Beginning in the fall of 2023 they added a coat and blanket ministry, all at no cost to anyone who needed them. They also work in conjunction with the Catholic organization, St. Vincent de Paul Society, a nonprofit organization that helps disadvantaged people. This past Thanksgiving they held a joint project where St. Francis Kitchen provided 75 meals for people, dine in and carryout. St. Vincent also provided over 45 meals for people to take home and prepare for themselves.
St. Francis Community Kitchen has a core group of volunteers — Barb and Gary Moore, Sandy Dornbirer, Cathy Hart, Ruth Fox, Allen and Sue Bishop, Regina Zornes, Lynn Miller, Lori Skaggs, Connie Young, and Shirley Dornbirer and Cheri Wintersteller who prepare the desserts. Deacon Julius is also a volunteer on his own for another cause “BORN” and their work to help people.
Julius and the volunteers appreciate help of any kind. They often hear from senior citizens how the weekly meal helps with their limited incomes. From the Bible in Matthew 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Julius is usually at the cafeteria noon-6 p.m . Mondays help to prepare meals that are served 5-6 p.m. It's located at the rear of the old Holy Trinity School; park on the east side of the building and use the far north door to enter. Contact Julius by calling 419-561-2008 or the parish office at 419-562-1346 or email [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Julius Fritz and the St. Francis Community Kitchen feed the hungry