Food pantry reopens

PATERSON  In spite of rainy weather that fell on a Monday morning, Nov. 13, the spirits of those at the Father English Community Center here were not dampened. Eleven days after a devastating fire destroyed the diocesan Catholic Charities agency’s food pantry, the Father English food pantry is back to serve its 100 to 150 clients that come daily for basic food needs.

Eva’s Village has transformed its Culinary School’s training kitchen into a temporary location for the Father English food pantry at 133 Prince Street here. Just two blocks away from the food pantry where the fire occurred, the Culinary School at Eva’s Village is an ideal location for the agency and the more than 4,000 clients that come per month, many of whom walk to the pantry. The staff at Eva’s has set up shelves to hold non-perishable items, made space in its freezers and figured out logistics for delivery and distribution.

Chris Barton, executive director of Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS), the agency that oversees the Father English Center, said, “I am encouraged by the outpouring of support. Our partnership with Eva’s Village is important because we share a mission about serving people in need.”

By 9 a.m. when the food pantry reopened, clients were lined up to receive food being distributed by staff and volunteers of Father English along with those at Eva’s. Many clients hugged Carlos Roldan, director of the food pantry at Father English, who handed out the groceries. The clients were grateful to be receiving much needed food for their families and that Catholic Charities was still working hard to provide it to them.

“While it was absolutely bad news about the fire,” said Roldan, “this is good news to be able to reopen just 10 days later thanks to Eva’s Village.”

It was divine providence that Father English had found a temporary home at Eva’s Village. James Cwynar, director of the Culinary School, said, “Our training kitchen is currently empty while our culinary students are engaged in industry internships and we are just around the corner from the English Community Center.”

With the fire that occurred on Nov. 2, the food pantry and its food stock were a complete loss. In addition, the clothing boutique at Father English was also destroyed. Fortunately, through the kindness of so many, Barton said that parishioners from parishes in three counties in the Diocese have already been pitching in with donations of food and clothing after reading about the fire in last week’s issue of The Beacon. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey has committed to deliver staples and foundational foods to restock the pantry. Though the fire was a setback, Barton expects that the pantry will still be able to provide turkeys and ingredients for all the trimmings to 1,500 people in time to prepare a Thanksgiving meal.

There has always been a constant partnership with Father English and Eva’s Village. Donna Fico, a recent Catholic Charities Caritas Award recipient and Eva’s executive vice president of support services, said, “Eva’s Village refers clients to Catholic Charities for social services, housing and clothing and Catholic Charities refers clients to our Community Kitchen, our shelters and recovery programs.”

The Father English Food Pantry is expected to be back at its original location in late December.

“We thank God that our staff and students were all safely evacuated when the fire broke out and we are abundantly grateful for our community partner, Eva’s Village, that has generously offered the use of their culinary school,” Barton said.