I look forward to Tuesdays.
The day gets off to a quick start as my companion and I ready ourselves for the rather long bus-train trek to Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, affectionately known as “Bed-Stuy” or simply “the hood.” 1.5 hours later, we are making our way through the neighbourhood, passing a crouched body in a doorway, a noisy altercation in the middle of the street, or a worn-looking mother wheeling her cart and a child with one hand, while dragging along a youngster with the other.
Rounding a corner, the sign for St. John’s Bread & Life1 comes into view, along with the line of patiently waiting regulars outside its doors, most of them Black, many Hispanic, as well as a number of Asians and White. A ring of the bell alerts one of the African-American staff, who, smiling, admits us with a warm greeting of welcome. Signing in at the available computer, our hands are ready for helping.
Is it the kitchen today? We spend several hours there, furiously helping to pack up Grab-and-Go breakfast bags and hot lunches.
I had never worked in an industrial-size kitchen before and am fascinated by the large machinery and the know-how of the staff. Beginning work at 5:30am, they are well into their day by the time we arrive on the scene four hours later. Their jovial banter interspersed with hearty laughter brightens the space, and 3-4 hundred meals are ready before we know it. Bread & Life prides itself on employing locals, who, in turn, serve their neighbourhood with respect and care. The work is physically demanding, and I often hear one of the older women lugging boxes of breakfast goods to the packing table whisper repeatedly under her breath, “God, give me the strength.”
From the kitchen, we move to the Digital Food Choice Pantry. Recently reopened after covid, individuals and families are able again to access trilingual touch screen computers where, with a few swipes and clicks, they have the option to select from an array of nutritious grocery items catering to diverse cultural backgrounds. A chit for each completed list is printed out in the next room, so that staff and volunteers like us can gather together the chosen items. I am glad of an opportunity to chat briefly with someone receiving bagged groceries or to assist newcomers trying to familiarize themselves with the digital system. Again, too, I am touched by the humour and dedication of the staff. The spirited woman singing “Jesus songs” in time to her headset and loud enough to drown out the pop number playing in the storeroom, is particularly fascinating!
It is mid-afternoon by the time we are making our way home. I am weary and can scarcely keep myself from nodding off. I am also inspired and grateful. In the words of Dorothy Day who once walked Brooklyn’s streets,
“We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever-widening circle will reach around the world.”2
God of compassion, may it be so.
1 Read more about St. John’s Bread & Life at https://www.breadandlife.org/ .
2 Dorothy Day, “Love is the Measure,” Catholic Worker Movement, June 1, 1946, https://catholicworker.org/425-html/ .
Claudia Stecker is a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM). She was missioned to the Philippines in 1997 and worked as an educator, first, in Cotabato, at Notre Dame University, and, later, in Manila, at Asian Social Institute. Her subject areas included pastoral sociology, leadership, music and education. Claudia was also employed by Kuya Center for Street Children where she took part in establishing a microfinance initiative among urban poor families. Over the years, Claudia served the congregation, too, in leadership, formation and finance management, returning to Canada in 2021. From 2023, she has been missioned to New York, USA, where she serves as a host community member in a LifeWay Network safehouse for women survivors of human trafficking.
Thank you Claudia; Your reflection: ‘Service with a Smile’ touches me deeply. I appreciate reading about the hearty laughter as three to four hundred meals are prepared. At the same time I feel waves of despair that so many folk on a given day need assistance. May all ‘our pebble throwing’ continue to create waves of care.
Thanks Claudia for your reflection. I came away from reading about your day, feeling happy myself. An eruption of joy you were able to communicate to a reader many miles away!! And in the days since my first reading, I have found myself several times saying to myself; “our hands are ready for helping”. A lovely way to orient myself towards the needs of the world.
Your reflection gave me an insight into a beam of light shining brightly in this very large city where I think difficulties of day-to-day existence could be overwhelming for many. This prompted me to click on the footnote to learn more about Bread and Life and was especially touched by the focus on respect for human dignity while doing the work of improving food security for so many daily. Just recently, there was a major fundraising event hosted be CBC Manitoba to support Harvest which supplies food banks around the province. I wonder if the idea of the “Digital Food Pantry” is something that would work here too. Thank you, Claudia.