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OPPrairiedaily.com life & Arts
the orland park prairie | March 26, 2020 | 19
Serving the community, one pie at a time
6
Joey’s donates
roughly 500 pizzas
to people helping
in Chicago area
Bill Jones, Editor
Pictured are a group of nurses who recently were recipients of some of the generosity of Joey’s and Nick’s
Painting & Decorating Inc., who teamed up to deliver roughly 500 pizzas to those helping in the local community.
Photo submitted
Two Orland Park businesses
have been helping
those who are helping others
by making sure they
are well-fed — to the tune
of roughly 500 pizzas.
Joey’s locations in both
Orland Park and Morgan
Park teamed up with
Nick’s Painting & Decorating
Inc., of Orland
Park, to deliver the pizzas
March 19 and 20 to first
responders, family shelters,
city workers, medical
staff and more in the
Chicago area.
Nick Ipema, owner of
Nick’s Painting, said the
idea started with interior
designer Susan Devito,
who wanted to serve the
community during its response
to the coronavirus
pandemic. She wanted to
“be a light for those that
serve us daily,” Ipema
said.
The original plan was to
provide goods, doughnuts
and other items to people,
but Ipema started making
calls and found everyone
was short on food and had
limited supplies.
“We wanted to do
something big,” he said.
“So, I was conjuring up
ways that we could get a
lot of food, quickly and
efficiently, without taking
over a shop’s entire product
and workload.”
He turned to friends
Anthony Nardo and Nick
Iozzo, of Joey’s. And Joey’s
Pizza soon became
the topic of discussion.
“What an excellent way
to get food out to these
people,” Ipema said. “We
could stagger the deliveries
every three hours, and
I could have my guys use
our vans to deliver.”
Ipema said both Joey’s
and Nick’s are seeing a
slowdown in business,
so this effort became a
way to put their combined
talents, employees
and business tools to use.
His secretary, Brittany
Lisak, made a list of places
in need. Some calls
were made and then the
pizzas started going out,
from New Lenox to Mokena
to Frankfort and Tinley
Park.
Nick’s employees
Adam Bogovich and
George Stergiopoulos also
helped the group deliver
pizzas.
Orland Park man helping Tinley Park church to connect with parishioners
Effort started last
November has
become vital amid
pandemic
Alyssa Collins
Freelance Reporter
In light of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, the St.
Julie Billiart Roman Catholic
Church has turned to
streaming Mass as a way
to keep parishioners engaged
and connected.
For the past several
years, Steve Neuhaus, of
Orland Park, has been the
unofficial photographer
and videographer for the
Tinley Park church. And
back in November, Neuhaus
and the Rev. Lou
Tylka teamed up to begin
the process of streaming
Mass.
Neuhaus and Tylka
could not have predicted
how important this would
become in the wake of a
global pandemic.
“We’re living in interesting
times, far beyond coronavirus,”
Tylka said. “The
way people interact with
the church and the way
people engage with their
faith has been shifting and
changing for years.”
With the COVID-19
virus shutting down all inperson
services, Tylka is
using this opportunity to
find new technologies and
tools to spread his message
to a broader audience, he
said. Neuhaus and Tylka
currently livestream Mass
at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday.
In addition to weekly Mass,
Tylka records what he calls
“midweek moments.”
These are shorter videos
intended to encourage
the community and allow
the parish to remain connected
in a time when they
are forced to stay away, he
said. These are to be posted
each Wednesday.
“Church is far beyond a
building,” Tylka said. “Our
discipleship goes far beyond
just coming to Mass.
So, perhaps there are things
we can think about and discover
in this crisis to continue
engaging people and
inviting people to a life of
discipleship.”
Once life regains a sense
of normalcy, Tylka intends
to continue using videos
and livestreams as a way
to connect with those who
approach faith in a different
way, he said. While
the parish has encountered
some challenges, such as
parishioners having difficulty
accessing the internet,
the feedback from
the community has been
overwhelmingly positive,
Neuhaus said.
As the COVID-19 virus
forces many parishioners
to stay home, views have
skyrocketed, and likes and
comments continue to pour
in. The idea to livestream
originated as a way to
reach the elderly or sick
5
parishioners who could
no longer attend weekly
Mass. It has evolved into
an opportunity to bring the
parish together during a
time of uncertainty.
“It’s not just shooting
photos or shooting a video;
we’re bringing the Lord to
our folks who are homebound,
who are sick and
unable to attend Mass,”
Neuhaus said.
Neuhaus and Tylka
livestream weekly on
Facebook, and the video is
then uploaded to YouTube
and the St. Julie website,
https://www.stjulie.org.