Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington is seeking a Food Pantry Coordinator Volunteer:

  • Location: 1516 Hamilton Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011
  • Part-time: One day a week (2-3 hours) 

Duties include:

  • Maintain a clean and organized pantry
  • Sort and stock food items onto shelves by food type and expiration date  
  • Check expiration dates and discard expired items
  • Prepare food bags
  • Prepare food supplies for other SMGW locations 

Requirements:

  • Organizational skills 

Ability to:

  • Stand for length of time
  • Lift to 30 pounds 

Contact: Sy Jones, Volunteer Manager at sjones@samaritanministry.org  202.722.2280 ext. 314

The Rev. Paula E. Clark, Canon to the Ordinary (a position on the bishop’s staff) of the Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Washington, wrote this reflection for the diocese’s enewsletter for its parishes’ leaders. St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, which operates Loaves and Fishes as one of its ministries, is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and Loaves and Fishes is a recipient of funds from the diocese, both from the regular Hunger Fund and the special COVID-19 Emergency Relief Appeal.

July 20, 2020

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
– 2 Chronicles 7:14

The COVID-19 crisis has forced us to see, through a new lens, that the effects of the pandemic are not equal across the Diocese of Washington. For me, before medical professionals, scientists, politicians and pundits proclaimed that the coronavirus disproportionately affected the economic, health care, and morbidity outcomes of Black and Brown people, the evidence was evident throughout the Diocese. 

I serve on the Diocesan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund Committee, the program that provides financial support to food ministries, members of our congregations, and people in our surrounding communities, who are suffering from food insecurity and other hardships brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. In April, Bishop Mariann suspended the annual Bishop’s Appeal, asking instead that people give as they were able to this emergency fund. The people of the Diocese of Washington and beyond responded to this call with over $100,000 in donations. 

This generosity was miraculous, life-changing, and occurred not a moment too soon. The applications we have received in the months since are overwhelmingly from our multicultural parishes for members and those they serve in their surrounding communities who are suffering from staggering job loss, illness, homelessness and hunger, and who are not being supported by government programs. The people we have granted support to have lost their jobs as home health aides, construction workers, restaurant workers, nursery school teachers and aides, and others–all with one staggering fact in common: they do not qualify for unemployment, rendering them completely without financial resources or a safety net. These persons do not have the luxury of social distancing at home, quarantining, and telework. Many have been personally affected by the coronavirus, either with their own illness or that of a loved one. 

We have had several heartbreaking stories of persons adversely affected by COVID-19, but a recent one in particular stands out. A mother of two young children, ill with the virus, gave birth to twins, and was immediately put on a ventilator. Her husband, who had lost his job, took the babies home from the hospital while she remained in a medically induced coma. Thankfully, the mother is now home with her husband and four children, but she will not be able to work for months while recovering.  

As summer approached and we continued to grapple with the growing hardships and tragedies of the coronavirus crisis, the video of George Floyd dying at the knee of a callous police officer circulated around the world and horrified us. The violent deaths of Aumaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain at the hands of police officers and vigilantes angered us. We, in the Diocese of Washington, suddenly were in the epicenter of rage and controversy over the sin of racism. No need to go into detail over a presidential photo and its after effects, but we have experienced a seismic shift in our resolve to dismantle racism in the Diocese of Washington.

The Strategic Plan always prioritized Justice as one of our three primary objectives in ministry over the next 5 years. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, we envisioned collaborating on region-specific justice initiatives that together would provide more impact on the communities we serve. The dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism have changed our strategy and focus, and with the blessing of the Diocesan Standing Committee and Council, our new strategic objective is “Equity and Justice.” 

We envision brave uncovering, understanding, reckoning and action to dismantle racism in ourselves, our congregations and institutions, the Diocese and our communities. We will provide resources, programs and initiatives that will allow us to engage in antiracist ministry, no matter our experience and/or comfort in confronting racism. We will develop a Diocesan Antiracism Covenant, that we will encourage individuals, faith communities, and the diocesan leadership to sign, pledging our commitment to dismantle racism. We have claimed antiracism and systemic inequity as a primary lens through which all our Diocesan strategic objectives will be addressed. 

Together, we will strive for equity and justice by adjusting our lens to focus squarely and soberly on dismantling racism in ourselves, our congregations, the Diocese, and our communities.

Jesus said to them, “…YOU give them something to eat.”
(emphasis added)
– Matthew 14:16

July 22, 2020, article in the Washington Post:

Coronavirus could push 250,000 into hunger in D.C. region, report says

By Kyle Swenson

Up to a quarter of a million people in the Washington area could be thrown into hunger because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Capital Area Food Bank, even as the amount of donated food and the number of distribution sites plummets precipitously.

About half of the food bank’s 450 partner groups and food pantries are closed because of the pandemic — mostly because of buildings closures, a loss of elderly volunteers or a lack of funding. With hundreds of thousands newly out of work, the distribution sites that remain are reporting dramatic increases in demand, ranging from 30 percent to 400 percent.

Approximately 415,000 individuals are food insecure in the region, meaning they consistently lack access to meals. The food bank’s Hunger Report 2020 predicts a 48 percent to 60 percent jump in those struggling to eat in the coming year, after five straight years of decreases.

“The findings of this report are really quite staggering, and it was important for us to sound the alarm,” said Radha Muthiah, the food bank’s CEO. “After years of declining food insecurity rates in our region, we are suddenly seeing this incredible increase.”

The pandemic has killed more than 6,000 in the District, Maryland and Virginia, and infected more than 170,000. Since its arrival, the food bank has seen a 70 to 75 percent reduction in donated food. At the same time, communities that have traditionally not battled with hunger have shown an increased need.

“In the past, while there’s definitely been food insecurity in Fairfax or Montgomery counties, they haven’t had the highest rates,” Muthiah said. “But now in growth rates, the highest is in Fairfax. The second highest is in Montgomery.”

The distress was evident Tuesday morning at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Hyattsville, Md., where cars began lining up at 7:30 for the 9 a.m. food distribution.

By 8:45, 80 vehicles stretched down parallel lines in the parking lot. An additional 50 people stood on the sidewalk.

Mercedes Zelaya, 59, swatted the heat with a fan as she sat behind the wheel of the third car in line. A nursing assistant who has not worked in two years after an injury, she lived with her husband, mother, grown son, and 6-year-old grandson. The pandemic’s economic crunch has affected the family’s work opportunities, forcing her to seek food wherever it was available.

“We have never been in a situation like this before, and it’s scary,” Zelaya said. “This helps,” she continued, pointing at the brown paper bags lined up on tables under the entrance canopy. Some pantries don’t regularly have vegetables, she explained. Others have vegetables but no meat. Others meat only. “You have to know which ones to go to.”

Two cars down the line, Jamie Perla, 41, and a friend waited. Both had been laid off because of the virus — Perla from a hotel and his friend from a restaurant.

“We’ve been coming here for the last month,” Perla explained. “It’s been difficult.”

The food bank covers the District, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland, and Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria in Virginia — a total population of 6.1 million. It had already planned a comprehensive report this year that would rip back the curtain of the region’s economic prosperity to show inequality beneath.

Despite an average household income of $128,000 in the region, there are vast disparities in factors that play into food access, including household income, education levels, unemployment rates and life expectancy.

“If you are in Anacostia, life expectancy is in the 60s,” Muthiah said. “Whereas in Ward 3, it’s in the 90s. That’s only a 10-mile distance.”

Then came the pandemic. The virus triggered a steady stream of bad economic news — from layoffs and furloughs to the bouncing stock market — that “further exacerbated what we knew existed,” Muthiah said.

Feeding America, a national network of food banks, crunched the numbers on how the pandemic would change food insecurity on a county-by-county level. The predictions were anchored in a 1.5 to 4.8 percentage-point increase in poverty and a 7.6 percentage-point rise in unemployment nationally.

The food bank laid those predictions down on the region’s census tracts, showing a deepening abyss of hunger in historically poor areas and a wave of need sweeping into neighborhoods that are traditionally more affluent.

According to the report, census tract 13.02, in the District’s affluent Cleveland Park and Van Ness neighborhoods, may see a jump from 460 to 870 people in food insecurity in the coming year. Falls Church’s census tract, 5002, could double its hungry population from 310 to 630.

At St. Mark’s on Tuesday, a whistle blew around 9:15 a.m. to signal that the distribution of brown paper bags packed with groceries was beginning. Car engines revved. Those catching naps in their front seats sat up.

Doug Jones, a retiree who once worked in logistics management and now runs the weekly pantry, watched as drivers gave their names and popped their trunks. Volunteers placed a bag inside, containing rice, beans, spaghetti, a V8 juice, a bottle of vegetable oil, two toilet paper rolls and other items.

“This week’s the lowest amount we’ve given out,” Jones explained. “Most of the people we see coming in are Hispanic. And most of them don’t want anyone knowing they are coming. They’re embarrassed.”

Before March, the pantry fed 80 families a week. Since reopening amid the pandemic in mid-April, St. Mark’s has been providing up to 350 bags of groceries on Tuesdays — usually snatched up within two hours. The church has purchased $250,000 in food over the past three months, Jones said.

The accelerated spending and distribution brought St. Mark’s to the brink; in July the food pantry started a GoFundMe page for donations to stay operational, which has brought in nearly $5,400 so far.

“The demand has gone up substantially, and people have donated a lot more,” Jones said. “But it’s still just not enough.”

The food bank says any successful effort to feed the region’s growing population of hungry will mean retooling the current network and creating new options for getting food to people, including creating hubs with significant distribution capacities and sending out “emergency boxes” with 20 to 25 pounds of nonperishables for families in areas with limited food access.

It also means helping closed pantries reopen and keeping struggling pantries going.

“We are engaging with them now to determined why they are closed,” Muthiah said. “Is it because they don’t have volunteers? Is it because they don’t have funding? Is it they don’t have sufficient storage space or refrigeration?”

The food bank also will be on the hook for providing more food out of its own funding. Traditionally the bulk of the food the organization distributed — about 63 percent — came from donations. The U.S. Agriculture Department provided 21 percent of the food, and the food bank purchased 16 percent.

Since April, the food bank has been purchasing more of the food — 28 percent — and relying on USDA programs put in place to offset the pandemic for 46 percent of its distributions. That federal program, however, is set to run out in December. Next year the organization is planning to purchase 37 percent of its meals.

“Pre-covid we might spend $3.5 million or so on food,” Muthiah said. “Next year we plan for $16 million in food purchases.”

Thanks to the continued generosity of Loaves and Fishes donors, both individuals and institutions, the program is able to continue providing food for people, even while pandemic-related restrictions prevent the program from operating at full capacity and from using its indoor space. The work of the program is even more critical these days as the pandemic-induced unemployment rate continues to soar and many individuals and families struggle to feed themselves.

The management board of Loaves and Fishes has decided to give $6,500 to Sanctuary DMV, an organization that assists immigrants and marginalized communities in the DMV area (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia). The funds will be used to purchase food cards for families in the D.C. suburbs at Hispanic grocery stores near the recipients. The program will also give $3,500 for food cards for tenants at an apartment building close to St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. Loaves and Fishes provided similar assistance to residents of another building in May.

Some members of the management board held a phone call the week of July 12 with the head of Thrive DC, an organization that, like Loaves and Fishes, also operates out of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. One of Thrive DC’s programs provides bags of groceries to people in need on Thursday mornings, and Loaves and Fishes is considering supplementing this Thrive DC service to distribute grocery bags on Saturdays when people come for the Loaves and Fishes bagged lunches. Grocery bags will be provided on Saturdays starting on July 25 with an initial distribution of 20 bags.

The management board held its monthly meeting by conference call on Saturday, July 18. The board heard a report from Denize Stanton-Williams, its operations director, about the program’s main operations – serving ready-to-eat meals. She said these operations are going well and continue to offer bagged sandwich lunches on Saturdays and a hot meal on Sundays, both on a take-away basis.

Stanton-Williams said the word is out about the program’s hot meals, which resumed in late June after being on pause since mid-March. The program provided 147 hot meals on July 12. “People are showing up,” she said. “This is necessary. We are helping a lot of people.” She said a woman came who was ineligible for SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) because eligibility is based on last year’s income, which for her was higher and not affected by this year’s pandemic.

And the program continues to provide about 125 sandwich lunches on Saturdays. Stanton-Williams said a person comes on Saturdays who takes some extra lunches and brings them to shut-ins.

The board discussed making more meals available on both Saturdays and Sundays as well as increasing the amount of hot food it provides as a way to meet the critical needs of the neighborhood for food and to make good use of the generous contributions of all of its donors during this continued health and economic crisis.

Thrive DC is one of the nonprofit organizations that rents space in St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, from which Loaves and Fishes also operates. The organization has a new video – a “short documentary” – and many of the scenes and rooms where it was shot will be familiar if you have volunteered at Loaves and Fishes.