Chef Andrew Butler teaches people about cooking, nutrition, and sharing in the community kitchen at Bridges To Hope.
“Being food coordinator for Bridges To Hope for three and a half years was the most rewarding, challenging, and wonderful job I ever had,” said Jennifer Whitfield, an elder at St. Andrew’s in St. John’s, Nfld., and president of the Atlantic Mission Society. “Seeing the face of God in all the individuals who came in for food was such an amazing service for our church and our Lord.”
Bridges To Hope is a joint outreach project of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada. In St. John’s, 10 churches, eight United and two Presbyterian, support the program. A volunteer board of directors is comprised of church and community representatives.
As an elder at St. Andrew’s (St. David’s in St. John’s is the other Presbyterian congregation that supports the centre) Whitfield is a tireless supporter of BTH and continues to promote their needs to the congregation.
And there are stories of individuals she met while working there that have stayed with her.
“Tom” was on social assistance, and was a BTH regular. “Forty – ish, fun and healthy” according to Whitfield, she asked Tom if he’d like to find a job. She helped him with his resume, and off he went to distribute it. He returned soon after, saying he had two job offers, but he needed a doctor’s note to confirm that his back was healthy enough to do physical labour. The doctor, however, declined a note. Tom explained to Whitfield that he was hit by a drunk driver in a hit – and – run accident 15 years ago and his back had been seriously injured.
He received a mere $1,100 compensation (once the driver was found, after also hitting a young boy). Whitfield knew that more could be done, and found Tom a lawyer. More than a decade after the accident, a judge dealt with the driver harshly and ordered that Tom receive $1,100 every month for many years—retroactive to the time of the accident.
“I then accompanied Tom to a financial planner!” said Whitfield with delight. “Tom has moved, and
no longer goes to Bridges To Hope, but I still see him sometimes. He always greets me with a hug and thanks me and Bridges To Hope for his new life.”
“Josaphine” was on social assistance for many years and came often to BTH. Whitfield recalls the day she gave Josaphine a cantaloupe—something she had never had before. She thanked Whitfield and went away with her new possession. Later that day, Josaphine popped by again, asking for another “fruit thing that looks like a football.”
“She’d gone home, eaten the whole thing, and come right back for another!” laughed Jennifer. “Being Friday, I happily gave her another cantaloupe to enjoy. As Josaphine headed out the door, she turned to say, ‘You are all very nice to me and I like it.’ The smile on her beautiful face brought tears to my eyes.”
Then there was “Agatha”—a welldressed, well – spoken woman who wept in Whitfield’s office as she related her story. Her husband was very sick, and while he owned his own business, he could no longer work and there was no income and no food.
“Agatha had never dreamed she would ever have to come to a food aid centre and ask for food,” said Whitfield So the food pantry volunteers along with Whitfield put together a hamper for Agatha and her husband. She always came during closing time on Fridays, hoping to keep her story as quiet as possible.
“We tried to give her hope as we showed our love and caring for her.”
Tom, Josaphine and Agatha— and hundreds more like them—are grateful for the centre’s numerous services. The food pantry operates four days a week, where 24 volunteers help organize and distribute weekly food hampers to people in need. An average of 600 people receive hampers each month. Emergency food hampers are also offered, helping people through 24 hours of need. Christmas hampers are also distributed. In 2010, a community kitchen was completed, offering communal meal preparation as well as nutrition and cooking classes.
Every September, a drive is organized for new backpacks filled with school supplies for children in need. In 2010, there were more than 360 bags distributed to children in kindergarten to grade 12.
A toy lending library operates in partnership with a local children and parents centre. Children are able to borrow toys, and then return them for others to use.
When needed, clients are referred to a variety of community agencies to help them break the cycle of poverty.
“The BTH program is one of true hope to help alleviate poverty in our community,” said Karen Moores, who is on the board of directors and an elder at St. Andrew’s, St. John’s. “It is for anyone who needs a helping hand. It is a centre which respects the innate dignity and worth of people and strives to make the world better for them.”
