Florida parish celebrates 1.5 million peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the hungry

The Peanut Butter and Jelly Ministry at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon, Florida, has made and given away one and a half million sandwiches to those in need, according to a Sept. 16 Osprey Observer report.

The work, accomplished by a team of volunteers, began 20 years ago. Luann Leahy had been part of a volunteer team at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Seffner, but the demand was outpacing the ability of the small space at St. Francis to host. 

Leahy asked the pastor of Nativity at the time, Father Arthur Proulx, if the ministry could move to Nativity. Fr. Proulx put Leahy in touch with Patricia LeJeune, who ran the Food Bank and Food Pantry at Nativity for decades, and the Nativity Peanut Butter and Jelly Ministry was born in November 2005.

“Father Proulx told me Pat would help me with whatever I needed and she did,” Leahy said, according to the Osprey Observer. The food bank “provided peanut butter, jelly, bread and sandwich bags, and we did the rest.”

The ministry began with five volunteers and 30 loaves of bread. Since then, volunteers have spent 50,000 hours making sandwiches, using 150,000 loaves of bread and 11,719 gallons of peanut butter, according to the Osprey Observer.

Leahy’s two decades of service were honored at the Greater Brandon 2025 Fourth of July parade. She served as Grand Marshall. She rode through the parade along with the Courtneys, Jim and his wife Joan, who have been volunteers since Leahy founded the ministry at Nativity.

“We feed the homeless, hungry and displaced,” Leahy said according to the Osprey Observer. “We also collect and give out clothing, shoes, and household items.”

Leahy said that helping those in need helps show people that they are not alone.

“We want people to feel special and to know that they’re not alone, and that we’re thinking about them,” Leahy said, according to the Osprey Observer. “We’re all children of God, and that’s what we have in common.”

Volunteers meet twice a month to make sandwiches at Nativity. New volunteers are welcome.