Find a need and fill it. Father Richard Morse, former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Manteca, used to say that during his homilies.

His exhortation was a call for the faithful to become sensitive to the many existing possibilities for extending a helping hand and providing service to those in need.

One parishioner who heard the call was Nora Vargas Kong. She took the “plunge,” as she called it, and opened a small business in one of Manteca’s neighborhood retail centers so she could be of service to others in the community. That business was a store that sold Catholic “religious goods.”

She knew there was this unmet need when she was asked to be a godmother for a first communicant and could not even find the kind of candle that she needed to go along with a Bible for her goddaughter. She was actually looking for a gift set specifically bundled for someone receiving first communion such as those found in a Catholic store.

“But there was no store like this in Manteca,” she recalled.

She ended up purchasing a candle, a Bible and others she needed for a gift set at different stores in San Francisco.

It then occurred to her that she could be helping others too if she opened a store that would cater to the needs of Catholics for such occasions as baptism, confirmation, first communion, quinceneara, as well as provide Catholic reading materials, music and devotional items.

That was more than a decade ago. She opened La Guadalupana Catholic Goods in a tiny space in Sutter Center, a small neighborhood shopping area at the corner of North Main and Sutter streets in Manteca.

“I started out very humble; it’s still humble,” she said of the small business that she launched.

“I just left it in God’s hands.”

And God did bless her small business venture because in a matter of few years, she was ready to expand. That opportunity came when the western wear store next door went out of business and she was able to expand her commercial space. Today, that part of La Guadalupana houses merchandise for quincenearas, baptisms, confirmations and weddings such as religious-themed picture frames and photo albums and, of course, religious gift sets that are the kind that she was looking for when she was asked to be a godmother. Her store carries books and other religious items in both English and Spanish as well.

Like any business venture, La Guadalupana has had its ups and downs, said Vargas Kong who previously worked as an office staff for Lucky grocery store in San Leandro where she, her husband Eddy and their children lived before they moved to Manteca. But what kept her going, said the young wife and mother, were her many loyal customers from Manteca and surrounding areas.

“They’re thankful I’m here,” she said.

Her customers are not all Catholics either. “I get some non-Catholics, too,” she said, of those who come to the store looking for things to give as gift for their Catholic relatives and friends.

Vargas Kong said her plans for the future is to “just continue doing what I’m doing and to be of service to the people.”

La Guadalupana Catholic Goods is open for business Tuesday through Friday from 10 am. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s closed on Sunday and Monday.

La Guadalupana is located at 404 North Main Street, telephone (209) 824-5456.