Planned kitchen renovations at shelter force back-up plan to
feed clients
Board members for the San Benito Homeless Task Force have worked
out a plan for serving meals when the shelter opens Dec. 1. The
board members were notified a few months ago that a planned
renovation of kitchen facilities at the Migrant Labor Camp on
Southside Road would be going ahead during the winter months and
that they would need to make new arrangements for feeding shelter
clients.
Planned kitchen renovations at shelter force back-up plan to feed clients
Board members for the San Benito Homeless Task Force have worked out a plan for serving meals when the shelter opens Dec. 1. The board members were notified a few months ago that a planned renovation of kitchen facilities at the Migrant Labor Camp on Southside Road would be going ahead during the winter months and that they would need to make new arrangements for feeding shelter clients.
Initially, board members and shelter Manager Cindy Parr said they hoped to purchase a mobile kitchen that could be used onsite. But when a state grant did not come through, the idea turned out to be too costly.
Kathy Hough, a board member, then approached Pauline Valdivia, a city council member and director of Jovenes de Antano at the Hollister Community Center. Valdivia agreed to let shelter volunteers use the kitchen facilities at the center each evening to cook dinner for clients. The kitchen is used during the day to serve lunch to seniors, and for other events.
Volunteers will drive the food to the shelter each night and serve clients on site with paper and plastic utensils. Parr said staff members will take the pots and pans home to wash each night, and return them to the Community Center each day.
Board members say they still need more volunteers to make it work.
“We have so many days empty,” Parr said. “We really need to pull this together.”
The board put together a calendar that is usually complete a month before the shelter opens with groups or individuals assigned to cook or serve each day the shelter is open. The shelter is expected to remain open through mid-March.
“We can use as many [volunteers] as possible,” Parr said.
For the past three years, many of the same groups or people have volunteered each year. But this year some of the past volunteers have not yet signed up.
“We think we are going to lose a lot of people because of the inconvenience,” Parr said.
The first year the shelter was open, Parr said, volunteers cooked off site and transported food up to the shelter. Though it was inconvenient, they managed.
“We have more than half the calendar that needs to be filled in,” Parr said. “It’s not an option that we have it open.”
In addition to a hot dinner, clients receive a bag lunch and breakfast before they leave each morning.
“We are hoping there is still one fridge up there to store lunch meat so we can do that,” Parr said, adding that they could keep milk and juice for breakfast as well. Breakfast will be cereal or oatmeal, meals that do not require cooking facilities.
Staff members are asking for donations of paper plates, bowls and paper towels, aluminum foil and plastic utensils. They will not be able to wash dishes on site, so will need disposable products. They would also like donations of socks, hygiene products, toilet paper and blankets.
“We need comforters big time,” Parr said. “We passed some out after the shelter closed and with people getting moved around, they lost their blankets.”
Board members are hosting a meeting for anyone interested in volunteering this season on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Community Center, 300 West St. in Hollister. For more information on volunteering or how to donate, please call Cindy Parr at 801-9531.
Homeless man finds home
Michael Martin is one of several people profiled in the Oct. 17 edition of the Weekend Pinnacle. Go online to www.pinnaclenews.com for a story on their experiences living on the streets. As reported, Martin was assaulted while sleeping on a bench in downtown Hollister. He was taken to the hospital after sustaining minor injuries from the attack. Martin has since been offered a place to stay by a local couple who asked not to be identified.
The story “touched one couple in the community that has since taken Michael into their home,” Parr wrote in an e-mail the week after the story was published.
