Carb-loading for those in need

It’s not easy putting together 800 14-layer lasagnas and 300 heaping apple pies.

But for the five women in the center of the organized chaos of volunteers at the Precious Blood cafeteria, the results are worth it.

The women, Missy Krempp, Dana Thyen, Stephanie Armstrong, Janet Rydberg and Angie Schitter, organize and operate the lasagna and apple pie outreach program through Precious Blood annually.

Krempp became involved in the program after being asked to take over the St. Nick Bazaar program at Precious Blood.

“I had been praying for God to guide me in some way to help people,” Krempp said. “When the priest asked me to take over the bazaar, it caused me to really look at St. Nicholas and research what he did.”

Krempp didn’t think she was compatible with the bazaar so she helped find someone to lead it. However, her research into St. Nicholas continued to nudge her to become involved in something on her own. One night her husband Bill told Krempp that as the “lasagna queen” she should do something in line with that title.

The title had been earned through her lasagna creation sprees.

“I would make these great lasagnas like four at a time,” she said. “One for my family and the others to freeze to give to people who had surgery or had a baby or whatever, and I would drop them off at their house.”

Bill figured she could make the lasagnas and sell them to raise money. She bit onto the idea and started talking to Thyen, her best friend, about something to go with the lasagnas. “That’s when Dana told me about her lifelong dream to own a pie shop,” she said.

So, armed with Krempp’s awesome lasagna recipe, Thyen’s apple pie recipe handed down from her grandmother, and three more volunteers — Armstong, Rydberg, and Marci Backer (Schitter joined after Backer was no longer able to help with the project) — found through a church bulletin piece, the St. Nick Lasagna and Apple Pie Outreach was born.

In 2004, they sold about 80 lasagnas and 40 apple pies. Fast forward to 2014 and the now locally-famous lasagnas and pies have nearly ten times the demand. Organized by Rydberg, church parishioners and the women’s family and friends helped them to create the dishes. The demand continued to grow and about 4 years ago, John Goebel, Jasper’s basketball coach, volunteered the basketball team to help as an outreach to the community. This year, the players were joined by the Jasper cheerleaders.

On Saturday, the five ladies, dressed in their bedazzled “Faith” t-shirts created by Krempp, flitted around the Precious Blood cafeteria directing the multitude of volunteers.

With everything in order and instruction cards for each station, the work went as smoothly as possible for 100s of volunteers turning 190 pounds of beef donated by Fisher Farms, 360 pounds of sausage, 1,500 16-ounce jars of tomato sauce donated by Ragu, 460 pounds of mozzarella, 150 pounds of Parmesan cheese, and 50 pounds of onions into lasagna that will provide about 8,000 meals. And then you have over 2,000 apples that have to be pealed and sliced for the pies.

Wabash Valley Produce provides 5,000 eggs for the annual event. “The joke is that Father Gary Kaiser is the official egg-cracker,” Krempp laughed. “He cracks every egg and we are just glad we have someone assigned to do that.”

Nancy Baer provides a cold-storage freezer trailer for all the food since the pies and pastas produced outgrew the church’s freezers long ago.

The lasagnas and pies are ordered by the community — $20 and $12 for two sizes of lasagna and $12 for baked or frozen apple pies — to help fund the outreach mission. Of the 800 lasagnas created, about 40 to 50 will be donated to the Dubois County Community Meals program and to the church’s shut-ins. “That feeds about 500 people, which is amazing,” Krempp said.

Over $30,000 has been raised by the pasta and pie outreach. That money has paid utility bills, repaired roofs, purchased appliances, and even bought gifts for the children of less fortunate families. The first few years, the outreach supported Food for the Poor in Jamaica by paying to build several homes. Money has also been donated to local organizations like JHS Caring Cats, Catholic Charity’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, and Crisis Connection.

“St. Nicholas embodied the spirit of helping those in need, helping the poorest of the poor,” Krempp said, “And it’s amazing to think that this one day of work creates something that benefits those in need for next 12 months.”

Thyen agrees but also feels the impact is felt by those who volunteer. “Not only do we help people throughout the year but just knowing these kids have given up their time to make a difference is amazing,” she said.