10 November 7-13, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Pantry Staple Coconut Grove Crisis Food Pantry has quietly fed the Grove for 40 years. BY LIZ TRACY T he candy-colored church on Hi- biscus Street in Coconut Grove provides the community with not only a dopamine-boosting splash of pink and spiritual nour- ishment but also sustenance. Christ Episcopal Church is a historical landmark that’s home to the all-volunteer Coconut Grove Crisis Food Pantry known for building community and providing the North Grove with consistent and healthy food for 40 years this month. The congregation, which has a long tradi- tion of service, was established 123 years ago by West Indian immigrants. One of its earlier leaders, Reverend Theodore Gibson, was a civil rights activist who led the church from 1945 to 1948. Of Bahamian descent, he spear- headed a much-needed effort to improve liv- ing conditions in Coconut Grove. The pantry launched in October 1984 when a few partitioners brought food to homebound people. It functions as an inde- pendent LLC with plenty of supportive part- ners, but there are four stakeholders: St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Christ Episcopal Church, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, and Plymouth Congregational Church. Deb Dolson is on the board as the director of outreach, but she likes to be called a volun- teer. Her father was the rector at St. Stephen’s and known in the Grove as “the street priest” when the pantry first opened. She was living overseas at the time, teaching at American schools while her husband worked as a geolo- gist. As one of the few geologist spouses who had a job, she always wanted to volunteer to get to know her community in a more intimate way. When she returned to South Florida nine years ago, a neighbor referred her to the pantry. “I’ve loved it from the first day,” she says. “The second I arrived, I loved every minute of it. The people were wonderful. The volun- teers: What a beautiful group of men and women to work with. It was a new volunteer world that I always wanted to participate in but never had the opportunity.” An Unwavering Dedication to The Community How does the food pantry work? Each Sun- day, the pantry receives donations from 10 a.m. until noon, with major contributions coming from Food Rescue US South Florida and Enriched Foods Miami, which provide food from Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Sprouts. Volunteers organize and sift through the donations. Then, on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, the room is bustling with volunteers who assemble 230 bags. By 11 a.m., bags are all packed, ready to be delivered. “We want our clients to have the things [we] would buy for ourselves. Our volunteers all feel that,” Dolson says. People packing bags know what their clients want to eat and try to ensure they receive it. The food is healthy and balanced. No matter what in- come bracket you’re in, you deserve to have healthy, quality food.” Volunteers also prepare special bags for unhoused people who can’t cook, for people who are Halal, or who live on boats. They try to meet each person’s needs. They only serve the Coconut Grove area, but if someone comes in for food that doesn’t live there, they give them a comple- mentary bag and a list of operating food pantries in their area. The pantry also makes hurricane preparation kits for clients, just in case a storm hits. Volunteers are at the heart of this en- deavor. About 50 or 60 people are dedicated to their various roles at the pantry. But when the COVID pandemic hit and face-to-face interactions were discour- aged, they started to deliver food to clients. While some folks pack bags or act as driv- ers, others work from a computer, like Nicho- las Smith, who got involved with the pantry when he moved to Miami from London a few years back. As the chair of the outreach board at Plymouth Congregational Church, he strengthens the pantry’s network of commu- nity partners, which includes Temple Judea, Milam’s, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and Ransom Everglades School. Many provide fi- nancial support, while others, like Santander Bank, provide volunteers. “The pantry gives me an opportunity to give back to a commu- nity that has welcomed me,” he says. “The pantry is a group of people trying to help each other, and that’s what’s so cool about it.” Looking Ahead The Kampong, a Grove-area botanical gar- den, donates fresh produce that they pull right off the trees. “Sometimes they send things and we don’t know what it is! They tell us what it is and how to make it,” Dolson says. They in- clude recipes for these fruits and vegetables in the bags. “The breadth of donors we have in our community is astounding to me. The gen- erosity and the giving spirit that people have for this pantry is fantastic,” she adds. Volunteers at the pantry are also conscious of their impact on the planet. They compost all organic materials and recycle cardboard and plastics. A group of women they work with even take their plastic bags and weave them into colorful mats with matching bags for people who have no homes. They distrib- ute them to clients. The pantry recently launched a youth council to get high school students involved. Students Offering Support is just one group that brings their enthusiasm and ability to carry heavy boxes to the endeavor. “We’re looking back at our past 40 years, and now we’re looking to our future,” shares Dolson. Coconut Grove Crisis Food Pantry is al- ways looking for new partners and donations. Christ Episcopal Church. 3481 Hibiscus St., Coconut Grove; chrepch.org. [email protected] ▼ Café Photo by Deb Dolson The all-volunteer food pantry at Christ Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove was founded in October 1984 — and it’s still going strong. “WE’RE LOOKING BACK AT OUR PAST 40 YEARS, AND NOW WE’RE LOOKING TO OUR FUTURE.”
