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04/21/2021 08:30 AMWith years of experience in food rescue and community-supported agricultural farms, Amos Parker has brought so much to Community Dining Room (CDR) as a volunteer that CDR has just created a new position, volunteer kitchen assistant, with Amos at the post.
Amos, whose pronouns are they/them/their, has been bringing these food experience strengths to CDR for about three years now, says Executive Director Judy Barron, noting it’s a perfect time to give recognition and add this titled volunteer position to the CDR roster.
“Lots of great things come with Amos,” says Barron. “Coming from New Mexico and volunteering out there for a non-profit, they have great knowledge of food management. Since the pandemic, CDR has grown and continues to grow with the needs of the community [so] the timing could not be better for Amos. Added to this, CDR is diving into its new strategic plan and expanding on health and nutrition, as well as our go-green initiative.”
Amos’s interest in helping those facing food insecurity began with joining a food rescue initiative, Food Not Bombs, while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. An idea born in Cambridge, Massachusetts more than 30 years ago, Food Not Bombs has since grown into hundreds of autonomous grassroots volunteer chapters in locations around the world. Each group recovers food that would otherwise be thrown out and makes fresh hot vegan and vegetarian meals served in outdoors public spaces.
“Basically, we’d gather in a local church kitchen, just a group of people, to cook food and go to a different location in Albuquerque each week and serve the unhoused population,” says Amos.
The group specialized in preparing meals using “rescued” food—perfectly edible and salvageable items that stores and other provisioners had to mark as destined for the Dumpster.
“Every week, we would go around to different grocery stores and drive up the back loading docks, and take whatever they would offer from anything they were going to be discarding in the Dumpster,” Amos says.
At CDR, local grocery stores regularly donate food items to the kitchen, as an alternative to discarding edible items that are no longer on the shelves.
“The things that we get in at the CDR on a weekly basis are things that the consumer, usually for cosmetic reasons, doesn’t want to spend money on. But it’s wonderful food. It’s amazing, what we get,” says Amos.
Avoiding food waste is something Amos is passionate about. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov), it’s estimated that between 30 to 40 percent of the nation’s food supply is wasted. Plenty of that food can be salvaged and used, particularly at this point in the country’s history, says Amos.
“You see people now, especially during the pandemic, standing in line at the food pantries and food banks, and it’s just really a shame that we can’t find more places like the CDR to re-purpose and use that food to feed people healthy, nutritious food.”
As CDR’s volunteer kitchen assistant, Amos averages 25 hours a week in the kitchen working alongside CDR Kitchen Coordinator Mary Johnston. Non-profit CDR is located in Branford at the Patricia C. Andriole Volunteer Services Center at 30 Harrison Avenue.
A Branford native, Amos moved to New Mexico about 25 years ago and volunteered with Food Not Bombs for five years before moving into working with organizations that supported sustainable food distribution of another type.
“I moved into the other end of the food system, where I was working on, and then managing, community supported agriculture farms—CSAs,” says Amos. “So that’s also another passion of mine, knowing how much work goes into planting, growing, and harvesting the food. And then, if you take it all the way to the other end [food waste], to see it not really being used, it’s really a shame.”
Volunteering at CDR
After moving back to Branford three years ago, Amos was looking for a volunteer position involving food and quickly found CDR.
Currently serving more than 4,500 free meals per month, CDR supports residents from East Haven, Branford, North Branford, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook. Founded in 1985, CDR’s mission—to assist the community by feeding the hungry and helping with other basic human needs—dovetails with its efforts to promote public awareness of the impact of hunger and isolation. CDR is also dedicated to helping guests with practical needs through referrals and fellowship.
“Coming from a big city like Albequrque and being involved with food distribution and helping others there, I was really amazed that Branford had such an organized system like the CDR,” says Amos.
Amos submitted a volunteer application in February 2018 with CDR’s volunteer coordinator at the time, Courtney Rosenberg.
“When she saw that I had worked previously with Food Not Bombs and I had lots of food experience, she introduced me to Mary” Johnston, Amos says. “And Mary scooped me up, and I’ve been her unofficial assistant until now, when they created this position.
For Amos, volunteering in the CDR kitchen with Johnston is a perfect fit.
“I feel like Mary and I are on the same wavelength, as far as trying to provide healthy meals for people and utilizing all the fresh food that we get from the grocery stores or during the growing season,” Amos says.
Speaking of growing seasons, things are starting to stir in shoreline gardens and farm fields, and Amos is already working to ensure both CDR and Amos’s own family will be using as much fresh produce as possible to help reduce food waste.
“I have a raised bed garden in my mom’s backyard, but I did join a CSA in Wallingford that delivers to Shelley’s Garden Center in Branford, so I’m also looking forward to picking up the fresh local vegetables from there,” says Amos, who recommends joining an area CSA as a great way to support local farmers and avoid food waste.
CSA registration is open right now among many local and statewide farm stands and markets; to learn more, visit the website or Facebook page of your favorite local farm or head to the state website portal.ct.gov/DOAG/Marketing/Marketing/CSA-Listing.
Amos is also looking forward to helping Barron and everyone at CDR continue working to incorporate sustainable practices into CDR services.
“I think what Judy’s really trying to have me do to help is just to make sure that we’re wasting as little as possible of what we get,” says Amos. “We do have a great composting program that was started last year, so really not much actual food goes in the Dumpster. But before it gets to the compost, we’re really trying to use every bit of what we get in and be a bit more creative in the way we use it.”
Currently, due to the pandemic, CDR is continuing to serve daily meals through pick-up, local homebound meal deliveries, and other types food distribution programming, while the dining room remains closed to guests. Amos and everyone at CDR is looking forward to the day when the dining room can reopen.
“A lot of the people that I talk to, when I hand out meals at the door, say they would come to the dining room not just for food, but for the social aspect of it,” says Amos. “Some of them would come just to have a cup of coffee for the hour and be with other people.”
Amos has also had the opportunity to experience, firsthand, the community support that goes into helping CDR succeed in its important work.
“The town’s private citizens and businesses really support the Community Dining Room, [together with] all of these different restaurants that bring trays of food so the cooks can have a break, and all of the grocery stores that contribute,” says Amos. “It really is a great community that’s very supportive.”
CDR also benefits from grants and fundraising efforts of local community support organizations and businesses as well as individual donations, which can be made online at communitydiningroom.org.
As a non-profit, CDR values and relies on having many volunteers who step up to help. Those who are members of the CDR volunteer family are there because they enjoy being of service at a place that’s pretty special, says Amos.
“Everyone wants to be there. For me, especially during the pandemic, it was great way to meet people that want to help, and who are interested in food,” says Amos. “It’s a great place to volunteer and there’s always something to do. I would encourage anyone who’s interested to get involved, because there’s a niche for everyone there. There’s monthly volunteer training—come check it out!”
CDR’s next Volunteer Training session is set for Wednesday, April 28 from 5 to 6 p.m. at 30 Harrison Avenue, Branford. To register, email volunteercoordinator@communitydiningroom.org. All social distancing guidelines are practiced during training sessions and masks must be worn.