Julie Wucka of Naperville and her son Jackson, 11, both say they “are big foodies for food trucks” and backed that up with a visit to their church in Aurora on Friday.
“We’re doing a food truck crawl because we’re starting tonight here at our church – Our Lady of Mercy – and then we are going over to the high school which is also having a food truck fest,” Julie Wucka said. “For me, tacos are the go-to thing. My son likes them too as well as hot dogs.”
More Top Picks Adhd Focus Tips That Actually Work Without Medication
Cities and towns throughout the area have been holding regular food truck festivals throughout the summer and on Friday, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Aurora elected to hold its own bash for church members as well as the community at large.
Church officials said a food truck fest was first organized at the church a few years ago coming out of the pandemic and has continued “as both an outreach to the community as well as something for our members to enjoy.”
Zara Tan of Aurora, who serves at the evangelization, discipleship and communications director for the church, said “this is maybe the third time we’re having food trucks come out, but from here on we’re going to try and make it a yearly event and a welcoming thing to bring the community into our church space. We want to allow them to see how we can be here for them.”
Friday also happened to be a feast day for the parish, Tan noted.
“The Feast of our Lady of Assumption and so, it’s just perfect timing,” Tan said of the fest.
Brew Avenue Events out of Oswego organized the six food trucks brought in which included Burrito Xpress, La Michoacana Sweeet Bliss, Hippy Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Burger Xpress, DillaDogs
and Kiss by Fire.
“This truck fest is pretty much the same size we’ve had in the past. Usually, we draw a couple of hundred people,” Tan said. “When we organized the food trucks it was tough with contracts and so forth so having Brew Events organize this make this easier. We know they have done this for another parish and we trust them.”
Alessandro Vazquez of Brew Events said he “enjoys working for churches and making things easier.”
“We do a number of events and sometimes they are for communities, non-profits or schools,” he said. “We do another large church event at St. Peter and Paul’s in Naperville and we’ve been trying to do an event here for a while.”
The event at the church on Friday also included live music through Aurora Pro DJs as well as yard games like bags and facepainting and balloon art for kids.
The Rev. Michael Karney, pastor at Our Lady of Mercy, said that the DJ at the event was a member of the parish.
“For me, this is all about social time and community,” Karney said. “We’re not making money from this but just want people to have a good time together as families.”
Robert Pellegrini of Aurora called Friday’s gathering “a great event” for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church.
“All food truck festivals are great. If you bring food, people come and some of these trucks are really good. I love the ribs and I love ice cream,” he said. “This does help bring people and the community in. A lot are unaware we’re here and what we have. There is some amazing history here. We’re like a mini-cathedral.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.