Fresh Fishes and Loaves for Hazelwood

The world is dotted by places called “food deserts”. They exist in the United States in communities where local food retailers began to close and in developing countries where natural disasters, like drought or floods, are destroying crops season after season. To recover and turn things around, these communities often need the support of people who care, who tackle challenges head-on, and who work through partnerships. Part of the equation is having resources to help turn things around.

CRS Rice Bowl, Catholic Relief Services’ Lenten program, known for its colorful cardboard box and mission to help others, is on the team in dioceses across the U.S. and in 91 countries overseas. The program makes the global-local connection when it comes to ending hunger and alleviating poverty for people around the world.

Hazelwood is a neighborhood of Pittsburgh and was once a hub of social and economic activity. But not today; it now suffers from a lack of jobs. In the 1980s, before the closing of the locomotive repair shop and the steel mill, Hazelwood was home to 50,000 people.

Only about 5,000 people now call Hazelwood home. Movie theaters, restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses shut their doors as people left town. The last grocery store, Dimperio’s Market, closed in 2009 leaving Hazelwood a Food Desert: a place where there is no easy access to fresh meat and produce. What’s left for the citizens is a local convenience store and pharmacy that sell packaged foods and dairy, but they charge high prices for the convenience of shopping there. The situation looked bleak until a group of community leaders, the Hazelwood Initiative, and city government officials came to the table. They invited a new player, Keystone Development Corporation (KDC), to help identify ways to improve access to fresh food in the community. While KDC had experience starting co-operative stores and Buying Clubs in rural areas, they had no experience with a Buying Club in the city. Initial discussions about starting a food co-op stalled, so KDC turned to the local churches and proposed starting a Buying Club. At that moment, a new partnership was born to put an end to hunger in Hazelwood. Together, St. Stephen Catholic Church, the Hazelwood Presbyterian Church, KDC and the Hazelwood Initiative formed the Fishes and Loaves Cooperative Ministries Buying Club. The club purchases fresh food at lower prices and passes the savings on to its customers.

Now that there was a name, the next steps were to find financial support and purchase food. Local folks from the diocese, Deacon Tom Berna and Fr. Dan Walsh, got the ball rolling and secured an interest-free loan of $2,000 from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The funds came from the 25 percent share of CRS Rice Bowl funds that remain with the diocese to help local agencies. CRS’ Diocesan Director, Helene Paharik, played an instrumental role in identifying these funds.

While 75 percent of funds raised through CRS Rice Bowl support hunger fighting programs in developing countries, one quarter of the funds stay in the diocese where they were raised to address local needs, such as the lack of fresh food in Hazelwood.

Next, the Fishes and Loaves Cooperative Ministries Buying Club teamed up with the Robert Wholey Company (known for supplying fresh fish and other groceries) and with Manchini’s Bakery (a family-owned bakery in Pittsburgh) to purchase fresh food at significant savings. “The grant of $2,000 initially allowed us to purchase a commercial scale for weighing produce, and the remaining funds allowed us to hold prices steady, for example, when produce prices spike in the winter,” said Deacon Berna. “We have since received other grants, but the initial grant was critical to getting started.”

The doors of Fishes and Loaves opened to its first customers in June 2011, at Hazelwood Towers, a high-rise apartment building for senior citizens and people with disabilities. On the first and third Saturday of each month Fishes and Loaves fills the residents’ orders. Volunteers shop Saturday morning, then package the food orders and deliver them to Hazelwood Towers by noon.

Fishes and Loaves has also been donating bread, eggs and fruit on the first Saturday of the month for the residents to prepare a breakfast in the community room of the high-rise. They gather for the meal and fellowship, and they buy their groceries.

“As well as bringing wholesome food to the community, the Fishes and Loaves Buying Club has helped to build community,” said Deacon Bama. And its service to the community is growing.

In December 2013 Fishes and Loaves began delivering food to a second high-rise in Hazelwood. “We are already seeing the beginning of sharing food and fellowship,” said Deacon Bama.

Go to http://www.crsricebowl.org to learn more, or you can visit Fishes and Loaves at http://www.ststephen-hazelwood.org/flcm-buying-club. Note to editors. Photo available upon request. Contact [email protected] or [email protected]