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Volunteers from St. Martin's deliver meals to the homeless
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Our Daily Bread
For 10 years, Cupertino's Care Force has distributed food to the needy
By Sam Scott
Three mornings a week, the kitchen of St. Martin's school in Sunnvyale becomes a meal-making machine. Volunteers, many of them parishioners at St. Martins, come in from the early darkness to make meals that are to be delivered to the less fortunate. It is a ritual that has been going on for ten years.
"We haven't missed a day since 1989," Bob Trefry, who heads the Homeless Care Force, says.
The Care Force will prepare more than 40,000 meals this year. It is an accomplishment that relies mostly on the industry of seniors. Gray hair predominates in the kitchen filled with retirees.
"Right now in my life I have more time left over," says Maria Wood, one such person. "I am very glad to be here and help as I can."
As Wood takes a coffee break, Edith Novak puts cakes into bags. A seven-year veteran, Novak says she first came because a neighbor was going. It is how many people come, she says.
"Everybody brings someone else after a while," she says.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Ricardo Ruelas, serves up plates of hot food to grateful diners in Columbus Park.
The meals, filling but not fancy, reflect what is in stock. The sandwiches are a mix of meats. Jane Cady, one of five staffers, wheels and deals with a skill that could earn her a fortune in an another field. Working connections with restaurants and supermarkets, Cady secures food donations. Excess items get sent off to other charities, which in turn send over their extras.
Today, she manages to get some cheese from a nearby church to which she had earlier sent bread. It is the first time in months that they've had cheese.
Cady, who gets in her car at 4:30 a.m. to drive down from Albany, explains her commitment to an institution not likely to give stock options anytime soon.
"I think we're really appreciated here. You're doing things for people who really enjoy them."
At 8:30 a.m, two hours after the process began, the hot meals, sandwiches, salads, donuts, and drinks get loaded on to the catering truck. By 9:15 a.m., the volunteers hit the road.
Columbus Park in San Jose, the van's first stop, is a long way from the comforting feel of St. Martins with it's neatly uniformed students and tidy grounds. Seemingly directly under the airport's flight path, the park reverberates with passing jets. A group of people form a line as the van rolls up.
Sitting apart from the line, Alfonso Glass waits for his food to be brought to him. A large man with a bad back and knees, he walks with a cane and can't stand in line.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Juanita Guevara and Stacia Haskins load up sandwiches, which were prepared in the early morning, for distribution to parks throughout the Santa Clara Valley. On the cover, John Clevenger serves eggnog, juice, and hot coffee to patrons from the Care Force's catering truck.
"Based on a scale of one to ten, it's a nine," he says about the meal. As someone who has been coming for five years, he should know. After living eight years in his car, Glass now has an apartment, but says he can't afford to pay both rent and food.
"This is a replacement for my own food," he says. "When I get done paying for the rent and anything I don't have that much money left."
As he talks, Keri Canedo, an employee from the Force, takes down clothing orders from him. She goes from person to person, often using their first names. The Homeless Care Force also stocks clothes. Canedo will check their supplies to see if they have matches.
"They don't look down on us at all," Annette Calderon, who as a woman is among a minority at the park, says. "If it wasn't for them, a lot of us would be very unhappy out here."
"We need more organizations like this," Edward Crudup says. He and Calduron are a couple, having met at the park. They sleep in a car. Not everybody comes across as alert a Crudup, Glass, and Calduron. Some seem in a daze.
Don Adams, who puts in 20 hours a week at the kitchen, says that some of the people will be dependent on services like the Homeless Care Force as long as they live.
"Some of these people are down so low they'll never get off the street. Be it because of drugs, booze or whatever. It's sad. They live in shacks, in the trees, in creeks."
More chipper thoughts are conjured by looking at the van. Two eighth graders from St. Martins--Ricardo Ruelas and David Velasco--help serve the food as part of their school work. They seem to enjoy the experience.
"I didn't think it would feel as good to help other people as it turned out out to feel," Velasco says.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
