Despite facing challenges, such as having to be outside during harsh weather conditions, the Calvary’s Mission Food Pantry (CMFP) in New York, continues to serve over 1,400 people weekly, and has restarted its humanitarian efforts in Guyana.
Founder of the pantry, Tony Singh, a Guyanese, told Stabroek News that food insecurity is real and he urges those in need to go down to 102-16 89th Avenue, Richmond Hill, Queens where they fill their shopping carts with essential items that would last them for a week.
He lamented that the cost of living is high and it is difficult for people who earn minimum wage to purchase enough food for their families. Each week they receive over US$100 in items like potatoes, onions, chicken, milk, cheese, butter and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Members of the CMFP are trying desperately to acquire a building so they can continue their services from indoors. Together with volunteers, they are braving the elements throughout the year (closing only about three times) to undertake this humanitarian gesture.
Several volunteers have been a part of the pantry from the inception. According to Singh, “In the winter, the volunteers are outdoors in the freezing cold and are working very hard to subsidise for the working poor. They are not doing it because they are getting anything different, they just love to volunteer.”
We met Singh at the pantry last Saturday as he was assisting other team members and volunteers to sort and set up food items at the various stations. Along with overlooking the operations and ensuring that everything went smoothly, he also helped to hand out items to the recipients.
Speaking briefly to the volunteers before the start of the session, Singh said, “Calvary’s Mission is not run by the leadership only, it is run by every volunteer. The leadership works hard to get the stuff in here…”
He elaborated: “Times are hard, it is very difficult to bring food into the pantry right now because we are seeing that all the budgets are cut.”
As such, they are not benefitting from the variety of items that they used to get. “It is because of God’s mercy and His grace we are able to get by. Calvary has enough food to feed the 1,400 families weekly.”
He expressed gratitude to the volunteers as well as to all of the people who continue to make regular donations behind the scenes. The pantry has a lot of expenses and donations from anyone who is willing to contribute, are always welcome, to keep it going.
Singh established the pantry about 25 years ago after recognising that many immigrants were not immediately able to stand on their own when they arrived in NY. He teamed up with other Guyanese and their first step was going to Costco, a wholesale complex, and purchasing food items and distributing them from the backs of their cars. Before they knew it, the demand started to grow. He is grateful to Pastor Khemraj of the Calvary’s Assembly of God Church for allowing them to use the compound.
The pantry started out serving 400 underprivileged immigrants weekly. When the pandemic hit in 2020, many people were laid off and could not afford to buy food. Singh started posting live FaceBook videos from the pantry, encouraging more people to come out. After that there was a whopping increase in people benefitting.
Mission in Guyana
Meanwhile, Singh and a team from CMFP, including his wife, just returned from a mission in Guyana, which involved supporting a feeding programme at a school in Berbice. This is an ongoing project that takes place twice weekly and is undertaken by the pastor in the area.
They also spent four days in the Amerindian community of Akawani, located over 60 miles from Charity in the Lower Pomeroon River, where they provided the residents with clothing and food items. They also held a party for the children, presented goody bags to them and spent time doing balloon crafts and face painting with them.
He described the trip to Guyana as being wonderful and very fulfilling, as they also addressed some social issues affecting the community. One major issue, he noted, was teenage pregnancy. “Some teenage girls have two children already. But we encouraged them to stay in school. We also told them that they are too young to engage in sexual activities and that should wait until the right time…,” he said.
Before the pandemic, the team travelled to Guyana yearly in November to assist in different communities. He was happy that they have restarted the trip and they are already planning to go again next year.
A former volunteer, Amanda Hardyal, who served the pantry for about 20 years, had an interesting story to tell of being “on the other side of the line.” She related that she had lost her job as the driver of a school bus for 28 years. After learning about the pantry she decided to go and line up for food, even though she had “pride.”
When she learnt that the pantry needed volunteers, she thought about joining the team the following week. But feeling depressed with her situation, she didn’t feel like volunteering and “just want to come for the food. I was thinking, I don’t know where I would get a next job to feed my family and I was contemplating suicide.”
Hardyal also said that many other negative thoughts crossed her mind, like “going in the store and steal and then I said I’m beautiful, maybe I should sell myself to men… These are things that happen when you don’t have money, the devil would put things in your mind to do.”
She was happy that she ended up dismissing those thoughts and joined the volunteers because it was a satisfying feeling to help out. “I would come here every week and work. That time we used to come from 5 am, whether it’s cold, or rain or snow, I would come faithfully… And when I go home, it was the best feelings I had, like I win a million dollars.”
She would also hear other volunteers talking about the difficulties they were facing and she would empathise with them. “I would pray with them and encourage them…”
Later, when she started working again, she said, “I bought a bus and would bring people to volunteer… We would work and make sure the place is clean before we leave here.”
Hardyal’s tasks included packing boxes of food and even driving the forklift to offload food from the delivery trucks. She worked her way up to becoming a board member of CMFP.
Joining the pantry was the best thing that ever happened to her and she could never forget how it helped to change her life. Even though she has retired from the pantry, she would sometimes go in to offer her services and share her experiences with everyone and motivate them.
Singh also told this newspaper that Hardyal was one of the “hardest working volunteers and we always recognise the great work she has done… She comes here on Saturdays and not only helps out spiritually, but she picks up groceries for five elderly people and delivers it to them.”
