As Hunger Grows, Giveaways Take Root

“We having a barbecue, throw some meat on the grill!” Khadijah Middlebrooks proclaimed to her son Lex, while picking up packs of frozen turkey, beef, and pork at one of two new weekly events aimed at tackling increasing food insecurity in Hamden.

Hazelnuts, peppers, and kale were just a few other items Middlebrooks found this week at the Keefe Community Center’s free farmers market.

The market is one of two fresh initiatives started by Joshua Watkins, the executive director of New Haven’s Community Soup Kitchen, to combat growing food insecurity in Hamden.

Tuesday marked the second market and Wednesday the third community dinner hosted by KCC and led by CSK.

Keefe Center Clerk AnnMarie Karavas said that when they first launched these two programs, they naturally considered themselves to be in the ​“piloting” phase. It took only one hour of distributing dinners this June to recognize that these food sources had to stay — and to start thinking about expanding.

Watkins said he expected to provide about 50 meals on night one. Instead, 445 plates of pulled pork and coleslaw — alongside other barbecued main courses and sides — were picked up by residents of southern Hamden and taken home to hungry family and friends.

Community Services Coordinator Y’Isiah Lopes said that the number of meals provided by the center has actually slightly decreased each week — because the amount of groceries collectively given out by CSK and Keefe has surged.

Each week, Watkins and a fleet of workers and volunteers drive between 19 grocery stores in New Haven County, picking up leftover foods that will make it to one of four of CSK’s storage facilities. The Keefe Center also offers bags of groceries to anyone who makes an appointment to come pick them up.

And this year Quinnipiac University students demanded that their leftover meal plan points be stored in the Keefe Center’s refrigerators rather than their school’s pockets. That movement alone meant an extra $10,000 for the Community Center to spend on groceries.

Hundreds of pounds of food in total are delivered to individuals in Hamden each week. Watkins noted that the need for nourishment in Hamden outpaces what he has observed in New Haven. He said that the farmers market held every other week in the Keefe Center parking lot takes and distributes an entire storage unit of food of CSK’s four. In alternating weeks, CSK also holds a free farmers market at 89 Broadway in New Haven— but that one is about one quarter the size of Hamden’s.

A special report from 2019 sponsored by the United Way of Greater New Haven found that one in eight Hamden residents experienced food insecurity that year and that 39 percent struggled to put food on the table. Moving south in Hamden, household incomes decrease, poverty severely increases, and the distance between homes and well-stocked grocery stores widens.

Karavas noted that as stimulus checks and unemployment dwindle, the goal is to ​“get people back on their feet.”

“We literally have an ungodly amount of resources,” Watkins asserted. There is more than enough food available to feed the entire town — but new systems of distribution are required to ensure that everyone can eat.

Creative Chefs At Community Dinners

This Wednesday, CSK Head Chef Harold Glass grilled cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and black bean chipotle patties while Sharon Jones, licensed program manager at the Keefe Center, scooped Normandy blend vegetables, couscous, and baked beans into take-home containers.

Watkins worked another grill, while explaining his latest strategy for grocery acquisition.

“One brown spot, and nobody sells it,” he lamented.

“But,” he added, motioning to a line of sizzling sausages and a heap of roasted red peppers, ​“that means we’ve got sausages and peppers tonight.”

“We’re constantly trying to come up with new ways to put ingredients together,” Watkins said, recalling some recent meals he has served at Keefe, such as beef tacos, strawberry kale salad, and caprese pasta salad.

One individual will come to the center and leave with two bags of stacked plastic tupperware. ​“The kids get everything,” Glass said, ​“including my heart.”

“No child should go hungry,” he stated.

Farmers Market Revs Up

As Middlebrooks enthusiastically stocked up on staples like dry milk and spaghetti at Tuesday morning’s weekly farmers market, her son Lex remained focused on finishing off his bag of cheese doodles (and informing this reporter that his favorite fruit is, in fact, also cheese).

A single mom who has been unemployed since the rehab center where she worked closed in 2013, Middlebrooks provides for six children including Lex.

The hardest part is figuring out how to transport groceries without a car while watching over her young kids.

Sharon Smith echoed similar difficulties. She relocated from New York City to Hamden several years ago in order to move in with her brother and his two children.

Her favorite part about living in Hamden is having a large yard where she reportedly grows cantaloupe, zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, and more. But, she said, ​“in NYC there was transportation.”

Here, the bus comes at inconvenient times and transports her to far-away stores. On occasion, she takes a taxi. She said she was thrilled to discover the free farmers market a short walk from her home where she could find necessary nonperishables to supplement and accompany her homegrown produce.

For many, this week was their first time visiting the Keefe Center. Others have been relying on their services for years.

Blaynis Rubiera learned about Wednesday’s dinners through her sister, who goes to the center’s diaper bank to access supplies for her baby. Ruberia, who works as a cleaner at City Hall, has two children herself, aged 8 and 9.

Headed home with a bag of meals and several packets of Cheez-Its and other snacks, she said she intends to return back in coming weeks for more.

Beatrice Warren said her insurance company referred her to the Keefe Center after a stroke in 2016 left her unable to work.

Originally from Guyana, Warren moved to New Haven and then a ​“little house in Hamden” in 1997 with her husband. She got her GED in 2003. Her daughter is now also an adult ed student in New Haven.

Last September she had a heart attack. Then, in early June, another. She has gone through two stent placement surgeries.

“I don’t have much strength,” she whispered. With her husband confined to bed rest and her daughter studying full-time, getting food on the table is sometimes an impossible task.

Fortunately, she lives right next door to the community center. ​“We are just grateful,” she said of Keefe’s new food options.

The farmers market operates outside of KCC on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free meals can be picked up at the same location from 4:30 to 6:30 on Wednesdays. To make an appointment to pick up groceries at the food pantry, call AnnMarie Karavas at 203 – 562-5129 ext 1110.