Foodshare by the Rt. Rev. "Drew" Smith
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Trinity Church Hartford Third Sunday of Advent December 14, 2014
Why am I dressed like this, you may ask. (sweatshirt, jeans, boots)
For a preacher in The Episcopal Church, there is no more important touchstone than the assignment for the Day from Holy Scripture. Except at Trinity Church Hartford, when the Outreach Committee of the parish gives the preacher an assignment. I’ve been instructed to talk about an “other side” of my life. The Outreach Committee assignment for December 14: to talk about Foodshare.
Do you know about Foodshare?
Perhaps you have noticed that quietly, yet consistently, during November, there were announcements from the lectern and in the bulletin about a new focus of our parish community’s outreach: Foodshare.
And that’s an “other side” of my life, as a volunteer there, and my assignment for this morning: Foodshare. And that’s why I’m dressed like this today.
Every other week, on a Tuesday and Wednesday, I am at Foodshare. It’s a Tuesday morning and after signing in on the log sheet at 7:55, I sling my daypack over my shoulder, and walk through the vast Bloomfield warehouse, whose shelves are piled over thirty feet high with tons of canned and boxed food, to meet my Tuesday driver in the new storage area for the trucks. The truck area is a space large enough to house five commercial straight reefers, including the two which look like beer trucks, but which are specially outfitted for our work today. Our truck is fueled and already has been loaded this morning with almost 5000 pounds of fresh produce, perhaps apples, potatoes, onions, corn, pears, tomatoes, other vegetables or fruit, and often, bread.
Isaiah said, and Jesus said, and as Christian we say,(61:1ff) The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the time of the Lord's favor, to give the oppressed a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.
On Tuesday, we will set up at two sites in New Britain, then one in Bloomfield; Wednesday we zig-zag back and forth, first to Wethersfield, then Glastonbury, west to Newington and finally to Manchester. On each of the days anywhere from 280 to 370 families will receive fresh food free. Poverty, need and hunger do not respect geographical boundaries nor iare they confined just to certain neighborhoods.
This wasn’t my first job at Foodshare. When I first walked in off the street, I was sent to the back of the warehouse to repack loaves of bread from the baker’s shipping flats into banana boxes, working alongside a young woman who had been assigned there for court-ordered community service.
I have gone out on the Thursday meat run. Departure with the driver at 6 am. Fourteen supermarkets east of the river and north of Hartford. Returning at 2 in the afternoon with a truckload of 5000-7000 pounds of packaged meat, which had been frozen in plastic bins as it approached its sell-by date. If we hadn’t made that run it all would have gone into dumpsters. Instead it goes into Foodshare’s freezer. That’s just one weekday.
It’s all part of Foodshare’s work, we would call it an outreach ministry, to provide food for those who are hungry, in Hartford and Tolland counties, whether in shelters, soup kitchens, through community food pantries, half-way houses, or — in the case of our mobile repurposed beer trucks — to people in our communities who come to our outdoor sites for the free distribution of fresh produce.
How big an enterprise is this? Thirty-two years old, Five trucks on the road every day. Numerous patent agencies coming to Bloomfield to pick up orders of food. Receiving from wholesalers at our warehouse at the Hartford Regional Market. Truckloads coming in from across the country. Participating donors include Stop and Shop, Pepperidge Farms, Big Y, Whole Foods, local orchards and farmers, community gardeners, including Saint Andrew’s Rocky Hill which raises over 3000 pounds of acorn squash on their property. Volunteers pick up food from smaller markets to take directly to partner agencies. 14 million pounds of food this past year.
Thousands of volunteers, repacking bulk produce, sorting frozen meat, speaking in public, enrolling clients in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program …
When I started, to everyone I was just “Drew.” Whoever. But people are curious, and people began to ask, “who are you?” It was not quite to the extent people wondered about John the Baptist, but still — . And word got out. As I came to know them, I began to see that the employees truly see their mission, as an action to care for the poor, personal witness, seeking greater health, security, and justice in society.
That’s why I am there too — remembering how Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food,” and the writer of James, “Be doers of the word, not just hearers.”
The work evolved quickly into so much more than handing out food. Witness. Ministry. Welcome and engagement with the clients. The relationship with and care for the site volunteers, some of whom I have served with for over four years. One volunteer and one site co-ordinator have died. One Viet Nam Vet has been re-diagnosed with cancer. And, more intensely, the relationships with the men and women with whom I work most closely, in the warehouse and especially the drivers. They know I am ordained. We talk of God and faith, for all have had some brush with God. With one driver I have solid theological disagreement: always we have interesting conversations when we are together in a truck cab for the better part of a day. Among the drivers: three surgeries, the death of a close brother, the two deaths of the volunteers, occasional difficult site relationships, institutional change at Foodshare, one driver’s loss of his job.
I realize I spend more time with these two drivers than I do with anyone else except for Kate. I am a Christian, and people know that, and I continue to be called to be on mission, though it’s much different from the 43 years before.
Foodshare itself has moved into expanded service and greater work, including increasing the supply of food, engaging in community education and recruitment, and assisting clients themselves to become food independent.
On this second anniversary of the massacre in Newtown, and on this day of a national Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend,iIt’s important to know that many people, so many people, rather than claiming their gun rights, and retreating and arming themselves defensively or for aggression, instead, reach out, offer themselves for the sake of others, with contributions, in jobs or as volunteers, and venture forth in charity to address the inequities of our culture and work for good.
My “other life” is to ride on Foodshare’s mobile units, all day every other Tuesday and Wednesday, rain, snow or shine, to help bring fresh food to those in need. Such a blessing, for others, I believe; for me, I know. I also know there are many other such stories among us — stories which could, should, deserve to behold from this pulpit.
When you get home, visit Foodshare’s extensive and interactive website. Come visit Foodshare’s headquarters and warehouse in Bloomfield. Volunteer: right now we are seeking four volunteers to help staff our first New Britain site: ask me about it. And think of how you, and how we together as Trinity Church, can engage deeply in this ministry,’’
And, finally, listen to my dream in Christ: that every one of us,, however young or old, have, or will seek to have, (at least) one significant “other life”, an engagement, commitment, a mission or ministry to “do good and to share what we have, to proclaim the time of the Lord’s favor, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” It’s a good dream. Think what a difference we can make.