Every Thursday morning, members of St. Peter’s come to their little gingerbread house-style Episcopal church on Lincoln and Cook streets in Santa Maria to set up a people’s food market. Hungry people line up in front of the multi-use room to get food, clothes, and other goods.
On Dec. 22, in celebration of Christmas, people also got turkeys, cookies, handmade dolls, books donated by Altrusa of the Golden Valley, and steaming cups of hot chocolate.
“It’s first come, first serve,” program co-coordinator Trudy Ardizzone said. “We treat everyone with dignity and respect; like we were serving Christ himself.”
The church started the food market in March 2010 as part of its Martha’s Meals program.
“We started with sack lunches, which we still offer, but we found that most of the people we were serving weren’t homeless. They just had a food insufficiency,” Ardizzone said.
So St. Peter’s formed a partnership with the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County and the United Methodist Church of Santa Maria to offer groceries and other items.
“We pass out First 5 boxes and clothing. We’ve had visiting nurses come to set up home visits,” she said, adding that they’ve seen people from all walks of life at the church, including senior citizens on disability and people from local group homes.
“There’s a need and we have the means to fill it,” she said.
The church has received funding from Walmart and Catholic Healthcare West, but it could also use donations from the general public.
“You’re more than welcome to donate food, but money is good, too, because we can make every dollar go further at the food bank,” Ardizonne said.
The food market is open to anyone in need, and is run on a first come, first serve basis. The church usually has enough food to feed 80 families.
“There’s no shame in needing help. We’re all in this together,” she said. “We want to get to the point where don’t have to turn anyone away.”
For more information, call 922-3575 or visit the church at 402 Lincoln Street.
Managing Editor Amy Asman compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2011 – Jan 5, 2012.