By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -
Hundreds of bags of bread are laid out on a blue tarp until they are distributed by SVDP volunteers to the community at Cutler Bay Meadows Glen in Miami. By the end of the day, not a single bag will be left behind.
Maria Romero, a parishioner at St. Joachim, sorts through a box of potatoes. Romero is a volunteer of SVDP's new food pantry and though she is unemployed she enjoys helping the community.
When the food pantry begins distributing, community members are eager to receive their rations. Resembling an assembly-line, community members walk through the blue tarps and collect various canned foods, produce, bread, and other non-perishable goods.
Dora Perez, a parishioner at St. Joachim, is all smiles as her cart slowly fills with goods donated by SVDP's new food pantry.
Maria Mesa (right) jots down contact information for every person that collects a donation from the SVDP food pantry. Mesa is also the president of the SVDP Moment of Prayer Conference.
Alejandro Concha-Rodriguez poses by an almost empty table at the new SVDP Moment of Prayer food pantry in Miami. With a spacious van, Concha-Rodriguez volunteers to drive to Farm Share's distribution center to pick up between 1500 and 2000 pounds of produce that will be distributed to needy individuals and families.
MIAMI | Alejandro Concha-Rodriguez wakes up before dawn. He is retired, but he doesn’t mind the early wake-up. In the hours that follow, he will stand in a line to receive between 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of produce, filling his van to capacity. He doesn’t need it, but he knows hundreds of families who do.
Concha-Rodriguez, a parishioner at St. Joachim in Miami, is a volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul Moment of Prayer Conference in South Miami. As part of the 170th anniversary of the Vincentians in the United States, the conference opened a food pantry at Cutler Bay Meadows Glen, a community of seniors and low-income individuals and families.
Located at 11100 S.W. 196 St. in Miami, the community hall is transformed into a pantry every other Tuesday, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
“We prepare the food bags at this location and when ready it is distributed,” said Maria Mesa, president of the Moment of Prayer Conference. “This location is in a large community of seniors and low-working people who have difficulty paying rent, utilities and household expenses. They simply need assistance to make ends meet.”
Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA| FC
Hundreds of bags of bread are laid out on a blue tarp until they are distributed by St. Vincent de Paul volunteers to the community at Cutler Bay Meadows Glen in Miami. By the end of the day, not a single bag will be left behind.
When the conference first started the pantry, they used the interior of the hall, but due to the overwhelming number of people who came for food, they now use the exterior of the building. The area is shaded by large trees and resembles a park, picnic tables and all.
On distribution day, two large blue tarps are laid on the floor around the tables that begin to fill with people bringing empty shopping carts. They watch and chat casually as a handful of volunteers fill hundreds of plastic grocery bags with bread, canned foods, and other non-perishable items. By the time Concha-Rodriguez arrives with the produce, there is nowhere left to sit.
Volunteers help him unload his van and begin sorting through hundreds of bananas, peppers, spinach, mixed lettuce, romaine, broccoli, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables that have been donated courtesy by farmers through Farm Share.
Using inmate labor and volunteers, Farm Share re-sorts and packages an abundance of surplus food and distributes it to individuals, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, churches, and other organizations that the hungry in Florida — free of charge.
“This costs them absolutely nothing,” Concha-Rodriguez said. “Sure, I have to borrow the van, fill it with gas, go to Farm Share early and give up my time. But I feel it is the obligation of the Holy Spirit. God says to help your neighbor and this is a way for me to do that and appreciate it.”
Concha-Rodriguez said he has always felt blessed and needed to express that gratitude, especially after being deployed twice during the Vietnam War.
“I was a paratrooper with 210 jumps, and nothing ever happened,” Concha-Rodriguez said. “The only thing I did lose was my hearing.”
After the war, he went to college and discovered he had an aptitude for learning languages that were the complete opposite of his native Spanish. He learned Russian and Serbo-Croatian. He also wanted to learn Chinese, but due to the variations of sound and his hearing loss, he struggled.
“My life has been incredible,” Concha-Rodriguez said. “God has helped me. It’s not enough to want to do something, you need the Lord’s help.”
Even though they have walked different paths, the volunteers that Concha-Rodriguez works with share similar philosophies.
Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA| FC
Dora Perez, a parishioner at St. Joachim, is all smiles as her cart slowly fills with goods donated by St. Vincent de Paul's new food pantry.
“I am unemployed and I went to church for help,” said Maria Romero, a volunteer and parishioner from St. Joachim. “The Lord helped me so I wanted to give back. I like to help.”
With bags full and ready for distribution, Mesa begins calling out numbers. She uses a ticketed number distribution system to maintain order. She also uses the numbers to note the personal information of people who are taking food. With permission, some people even take rations for their neighbors who are working during the pantry’s functioning hours.
When Dora Perez’s number is called, she pushes her cart forward as if she were shopping at the market.
“I’m diabetic, but my real illness is lack of money,” Perez joked.
She has survived breast cancer and now struggles with a knee replacement and financial instability. But she is graceful and grateful as she’s handed a bag of romaine. “I like lettuce and broccoli. That, with some chicken, is great. What more could you want?”
In little over a half hour, carts and hands have been filled with food that will supply community members for the next few days. With a few bags remaining, the volunteers finally take a break. Before they get comfortable, a few more people who were not in line appear, and the volunteers return to their distribution spots.
If there are any leftovers at the end of the day, Concha-Rodriguez will take them to Camillus House, the facility for the homeless operated by the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd.
“We are always there to do something to help,” Concha-Rodriguez said. “Catholic means you help.”
