BRATTLEBORO — “At St. Brigid's Kitchen we are only treating the symptoms of hunger, not the disease of inequality and oppression that causes the hunger. The disease of injustice demands the attention of all of us and its solution will regrettably take time.”
These sentences are from the mission statement of St. Brigid's Kitchen, a ministry of St. Michael's Catholic Parish, which cooks and serves free midday meals four days a week. And just as those sentences reflect a broad and complex view about hunger, so does a visit to the kitchen itself reveal a broad and deep range of convictions held and blessings received among the Wednesday volunteers who work together each week.
It was a Reagan-era buildup in the number of the homeless and hungry that prompted Carolyn Pieciak, along with a couple of friends, to start providing free meals for the community. She proudly points out that in the 27 years since it started, St. Brigid's kitchen has relied on local donations only. Pieciak said that people told her that “if its a ministry, people will support it,” and they were right.
And plenty come to eat as well. Over the past few months, St. Brigid's Kitchen has been serving 50 meals or so each day.
To get this day's meal under way, Joyce Sullivan made stops to collect donated food from the Putney and Brattleboro food co-ops and arrived at the kitchen on Walnut Street by 8:30 a.m. By 11, the small, white kitchen space fairly hums with activity as several volunteers put the finishing touches on the day's meal. Sullivan and Sheri Woodworth have transformed this morning's gleanings of abundant broccoli into a colorful pasta dish along with peppers and onions. Every meal features a variety of dishes to accommodate some of the different dietary needs of the folks who come for a meal.
Sullivan, who smilingly referred to herself as the “Buddhist contingent” of the crew, said she came to volunteer three years ago after hearing a call for service at a Mass for her deceased father.
“I had sat on various committees and boards," she said. "I just wanted to do direct service. I like the human contact and immediate results. The 'us-and-them' barrier breaks down. This feels much more purposeful in my life.”
She said that this winter has been particularly tough, with less of a supply of available food. “I have very little tolerance for people being hungry,” she said, adding that “there are a lot of people with jobs and apartments, but they still need us to help them make ends meet.”
Justin Fitzpatrick started volunteering at St. Brigid's Kitchen last August. “I'd always done volunteer work since I was young," he said. "It's really fulfilling to be asked to help the community. It takes a special type of person to sacrifice so much. These people [at the kitchen] are role models.”
Fitzpatrick is in the National Guard, and his time at the kitchen is sandwiched between his past deployment in Iraq and his upcoming one - either back to Iraq or, more likely, to Afghanistan. While he was quick to note that working to create a community meal was a beneficial contrast to his military duty, he also noted parallels, saying that his National Guard unit also works to try to improve community. One of his projects while deployed was to organize a letter exchange for children of Gill, Mass., to children of Safwan, Iraq.
Not only does he enjoy his volunteer time at the kitchen, but he also feels that he benefits as well. Commenting on how St. Brigid's manages to produce their meals, he called the logistics “amazing."
"People that have the least can give the most, and things get done," Fitzpatrick said. "Working here is part of your character and your thoughts - and those thoughts then become actions.”
He sees benefit in a larger sense as well. “It's been 27 years. It's not just serving meals. It is also people sitting down together. At these times, what we need more than ever is a community network, people helping others to find out about a job or apartment. It's a family or community bond that makes it much more than just a soup kitchen.”
The volunteers have some suggestions for those who want to help. “If you buy food to donate, buy what you eat. Get plain ingredients, not prepared foods,” Sullivan suggested, adding that they are asking people with gardens to grow a row for Brigid's Kitchen this summer.
Pieciak is pleased that St. Michael's is partnering with St. Michael's Episcopal Church and the Trinity Lutheran Church to sponsor a large community meal on May 22. She is hoping that this event will appeal to a different population who may not be aware of the services of the “food ministry.”
As the mission statement concludes: “Meanwhile, the symptoms remain. People are hungry today. They cannot wait for a more just tomorrow. Therefore, we are compelled to feed the poor because God demands it.”