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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
St. Thomas Episcopal church plans to use its portion of federal funds to replace aging kitchen equipment, including the overworked oven seen here.
Community groups benefit from funds
By Sam Scott
A crowd of more than 30 people waited by the doors of the parish hall at St. Thomas Episcopal Church near Washington Park last Wednesday. As the doors opened at 11 a.m., the crowd rushed in. It's a scene that's repeated thrice weekly at the same location for almost two decades.
For the last 17 years, Our Daily Bread has served almost a half-million meals, said Carolyn Taylor, the fundraising chair for the group. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they serve in excess of 250 meals. The group has never missed a day, and this diligence has taken its toll on the church's equipment.
"We've worn it out," Taylor said. "It's a parish kitchen. It was never designed to serve this many meals, this many times a week."
At the May 9 Sunnyvale Council meeting, Our Daily Bread's kitchen was among the community groups to benefit from $492,560 in federal grants dispensed by the city.
Once a year, the city distributes Community Development Block Grants to groups. City spokesman Dan Rich said the money comes from the federal funds rather than the city budget.
Councilman Manuel Valerio said the annual event was one of the council's more enjoyable tasks. "It's always very satisfying being in the position to allocate funding to very worthwhile community programs," he said.
Our Daily Bread and a low-income apartment complex to be built in Cupertino received the most funds--$100,000 each for capital costs.
The council also directed $261,560 to supplement operating costs to 13 community groups. Sunnyvale Community Services, a volunteer organization and the Emergency Housing Consortium, which runs the armory as a homeless shelter in the winter received $50,000 each for operating costs.
All 13 groups that received money have long histories with the city, said Marilyn Roaf, the city's rehabilitation specialist. Each had received the same amount of federal money from the city last year, with the exception of Project Match, a group that places low-income people as roommates in the homes of elderly residents needing care.
Roaf said the city-recommended decrease in Project Match's funding from $11,803 to $8,685 reflected the group's recent difficulty placing matches in the competitive rental market.
The council acted on recommendations made on Feb. 23, by the Housing and Human Services Commission and by city staff.
Taylor, who chairs the commission in addition to her involvement with Our Daily Bread, said she abstained from voting for or speaking on behalf of the group. The money provided to Our Daily Bread will provide a foundation for the kitchen's refurbishment. She said they estimated the cost at more than $650,000 for the entire project.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
