Social Justice

This morning we reported for work at Crossroads Urban Center in downtown Salt Lake City. When we drove up at 8:45, there was already a line of people at the door, waiting for the building to open. Crossroads is a emergency food pantry; individuals or families receive three days of food and can only come six times a year. The food and diapers and other resources are intended to be a stop-gap measure for people, between a job loss and receiving unemployment benefits, for example. Crossroads have seen a 60% increase in need in the past two years. They distribute between one and two tons of food each day.


In addition to the food pantry, Crossroads is a place where people can use the bathroom, get a drink of water, come in out of the sun or cold, and find resources describing other agencies in the city that can help them meet other needs. In another location, they also run a thrift store. Also, Crossroads considers itself an advocate for poor people, and they have established various groups to work for change in the community and at government levels.

Linda, the volunteer coordinator, put us to work first water-sealing the wheelchair ramp. We cut back the weeds all around it first and then painted on the sealant. We finished this project in time for lunch.




For lunch, Linda took us a few blocks over to the One World Cafe. This is a "social justice" cafe. You pay for just as much as you think you'll eat, a $3 plate, a $5 plate, or more. People who can't pay anything are given a simple dish of dal and rice, or they can volunteer in exchange for their food, helping prep food or wash dishes or doing maintenance. Linda challenged us not to leave any food on our plates, to take only what we needed and no more. She pointed out that at so many restaurants food is wasted. We are even served food we don't want. Denise, the owner of the One World Cafe, believes that everybody can have enough if we all only use what we need. She puts this into practice in her restaurant. Also, she uses produce from her garden and other local growers and makes dishes with whatever she has available. There is no set menu, only a selection of things to choose from. If something runs out, she will replace it with something else. I appreciated the way she is rethinking the business model of a restaurant and reminding us that, even when we eat in a restaurant, we can act responsibly. Also, the food was delicious!

After lunch, we got to work in the food pantry, restocking supplies that had been depleted in the morning. Scott and I went with Linda to pick up a pick-up truck load of food collected by a local Catholic church. (Crossroads is supported by many groups of all faiths.)

After returning to Crossroads, we worked at sorting the food donations. Whatever can be stocked in the pantry is, and surpluses are stored in the basement. Lance operated the dumbwaiter and unloaded the crates downstairs. Linda says they have about a week's worth of supplies in the basement. They rely on a steady stream of donations to keep them operating. The church where we are staying, Christ UMC, had a food drive on Sunday to support Crossroads.

While we were sorting the donations from the Catholic church, another church group dropped off more supplies--1400 pounds of food between the two loads. We got boxed into the sorting room but eventually cleared a path and then, finally, got everything put away. Jackie was quick to learn the system and helped us gut everything in the right place. Jessica even got to help fill orders for some clients.

We left Crossroads in time to beat rush hour traffic. Back at the church, we were able to shower and put on clean clothes, and then Jackie made dinner. After dinner, Scott led us in a group devotional again.

Tomorrow we will go the food co-op, another food sharing program in Salt Lake. We will work in the big drive-through freezer. We all packed parkas for this job!

-- Rebecca