Religion roundup for May 7

St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church to distribute food St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, 1824 Station Road, Valley City, will have a drive-thru food distribution from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday. This food distribution is held on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month. The church welcomes anyone in need of food. Masks and social distancing rules apply. Recipients are asked to stay in their cars. Volunteers will place packages of food in your cars. Medina church youth participate in global service day The youth of Medina United Church of Christ, Congregational packed more than 175 snack packs on Sunday to be placed in Little Free Food Pantries throughout the Medina community. The project was part of Global Youth Service Day, or GYSD, the largest youth service and civic action event in the world. GYSD is part of Youth Service America's work to achieve 50 percent youth participation by America 250 (the semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026) and make working together for the common good the common expectation and common experience of every young person. On May 1, the children in the church's Jesus Vibes Sunday school learned about food insecurity and the seven Little Free Food Pantries in Medina. The children decorated bags to put shelf-stable food items in that had been donated by church members. At youth group that afternoon, the church youth filled up the bags. They heard from the steward of the Prospect Pantry, Medina resident and retired health teacher Jan Simmons, about her work. "Jan talked to the kids about empathetic giving, which includes giving things that you like to eat, giving things that are nutritionally sound and giving things that are not expired," church member Ellen Nolan said. "She did an interactive activity to help the kids understand how food can be something eliminated from a budget when there's a finite amount of money." Nolan said one of her goals as a co-organizer with church member Katy Medley was to share the message with the children that hunger and food insecurity are often hidden and temporary. The children learned that as many as 22.5 percent of Medina County youth experience food insecurity, according to Feeding Medina County. "The goal of this project was to raise awareness about food insecurity in Medina and inspire action," Medley said. "We wanted to empower kids to make a difference in their community and help them understand that small sparks of love can ignite big change." "In this service-based learning project, the kids are not only doing the service, but they're learning the why. What is the problem, what can we do about it, and now that we know about it, what can we do?" Nolan said. "The charge from the kids will be to have the adults of the church grab two to three snack packs and challenge themselves to find one they haven't been to before." This will be an ongoing project for the church youths. A map of Medina Little Free Food Pantries can be found at tinyurl.com/MedinaLFFP. Simmons shared that she fills her food pantry as often as three times a day, and it can hold around $150 worth of groceries. Zelenka joins diocese Office of Catholic Education Michael Zelenka has been named as the associate superintendent for secondary schools for the Office of Catholic Education in the Diocese of Cleveland. Zelenka will provide direct leadership and support for the five high schools owned and operated by the Diocese of Cleveland and additional guidance and support to the 15 other private Catholic high schools in the diocese. His appointment begins Aug. 15. The five diocesan-owned high schools are Cleveland Central Catholic High School, Elyria Catholic High School, Holy Name High School, Lake Catholic High School and Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School. Zelenka will also become a member of the Catholic school leadership team under Frank O'Linn, Ed.D., secretary for education and superintendent of schools, which leads the OCE in building the future of all Catholic schools in the diocese. "I am thrilled to have Michael join our team, bringing his impressive expertise and zeal for the transformative power of Catholic education to the leadership of our high schools," O'Linn said. "He brings a proven ability to build up leaders for strong culture and continuous improvement, and he does so as a model of servant leadership, who strives daily to make God known, loved and served through Catholic schools." Zelenka came to the Cleveland diocese from the University of Notre Dame after serving as an assistant teaching professor since 2017. He has 20 years of experience working in Catholic schools on various levels. Zelenka has also served as a Catholic school principal, assistant principal, English teacher, athletic director and coach. "I am honored to be joining the Office of Catholic Education team under the direction of Dr. O'Linn," Zelenka said. "Every endeavor within Catholic schools drips with the opportunity for God's grace to impact the hearts and minds of students, teachers and other community members. Whether these moments occur in the classrooms, on the athletic fields or during liturgical celebrations, all aspects of the school must be informed by our Catholic faith and oriented toward the highest level of excellence." Zelenka is working toward a doctorate in education degree from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a master of arts degree in education administration, a master of education degree in secondary education (English) and a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies from the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana. He has several academic honors and has given many academic presentations. A native of Northeast Ohio, he is a graduate of Benedictine High School. — from staff reports