By Jessica Easthope
Days before Thanksgiving, you’ll find that there’s a steady flow of people at Lizzie Gibbs’ window at St. John’s Bread & Life soup kitchen in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
She knows what hunger feels like: she’s a volunteer, but she’s also a client.
“I had gotten ill, and I couldn’t bring in any income,” she explains. “So I had to humble myself and take help from outside sources.”
Last Thanksgiving Bread & Life handed out 6,500 meals. This year, they’ll be giving nearly 11,000 despite a major slash to government funding.
“There are many more pantries popping up because the needs are greater,” Sister Caroline Tweedy, the Executive Director of Bread & Life tells Currents News. “And I guess the government feels they want to spread the wealth.”
She says Bread & Life has nearly $8,000 less than they did last year. It’s an issue when food insecurity is on the rise in Brooklyn. In 2024 it’s reached almost 20% – that’s 7 points higher than the national average according to the New York City council. Sr. Caroline says that between inflation and the migrant crisis, they’ve never seen so many hungry people at Bread & Life.
“And when you take that kind of a hit, you have to figure out, ‘How do we continue to serve the people in need?’ with what you have,” she adds.
The work that’s done behind the scenes to provide the food Lizzie’s handing out of her window isn’t easy. Sr. Caroline has had to pump up her fundraising efforts by securing money from the Amazin’ Mets Foundation, iHeart Radio and Food Bazaar.
“Limiting the number of times a person can shop in the pantry, reducing the number of items a person could take, we haven’t had to do any of that because we have been very aggressive in our approach,” she says.
Somehow Bread & Life continues to do more with less, and be a stable force in the lives of those New Yorkers in need.
“I look at it as seeing the face of God in the other,” explains Sr. Caroline. “And if we are true to our mission, we can’t turn anyone away… No funding or full funding, I don’t see a difference because we’re still here. And we never said no.”
St. John’s Bread & Life is on track to serve 4.5 million meals this year and continues to never turn anyone away.