Beef is hard to get at a Lexington food bank. How a priest got 1,000 pounds to give.

Thanks to a Catholic priest, an airline company and some young people from Texas, a Lexington food bank will have 1,000 pounds of fresh meat for Kentuckians with food insecurity.

Rev. Jim Sichko, a papal missionary of mercy for Pope Francis, arranged to donate the ground beef Tuesday to God’s Pantry, a nonprofit food bank servicing Lexington communities, along with other local nonprofits.

Sichko was inspired to make the donation after helping a Texas family whose husband and father had passed away, leaving behind nine children.

“My heart just really went out to them,” Sichko said. “My father died when I graduated from high school from a heart attack, so I felt this bond with them.”

When he heard that the two youngest children would be auctioning their steers to raise money for college, Sichko bought both. He gave one back to the family and wanted to donate the other to feed those in need.

Sichko decided to donate the 1,000 pounds of beef to God’s Pantry, having seen its “good work” in Lexington.

Misty Beard, community engagement and communications manager for God’s Pantry, said the beef will be used to help feed the more than 252,000 people at risk for hunger in Central and Eastern Kentucky. Beard said that an estimated 200,000 Kentuckians are served at the food bank each year; an increase occurred in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“We are grateful for Father Sichko’s donation of ground beef to the food bank,” said Danielle Bozarth, the organization’s programs and partner services director. “Meat protein of this kind is often cost prohibitive to purchase, and we often see limited donations that can be delivered to the pantries serving those who are experiencing hunger.”

Sichko’s acts of goodwill do not go unnoticed. He said Delta Airlines followed his tweets about giving gift cards to flight attendants, and the company invited him to Atlanta.

“They surprised me with a check of $100,000 to continue doing what I’m doing,” he said.

From that check, Sichko was able to pay for the meat to be delivered to the food bank and for the two children who auctioned the steers to fly to Lexington for Tuesday’s donation. “I really wanted them to have a time away from the farm to just be together,” he said.

Sichko said his goal is to bring awareness to those in need and encourage others to show kindness.

“Kindness begets kindness, and it costs nothing to be kind,” he said. “So sometimes I do larger-than-life giveaways to share and to recommend with others, by example, that they too can give some. There are a lot of hungry people in our world, even in our own city. I hope to bring joy, and I hope to bring some smiles.”