Audrey's Outreach

Written by Samuel Ramser & Dot Samsi
August 21, 2020

Brook Park Community Church of the Brethren serves Brook Park and the surrounding communities with food and clothing through their Audrey’s Outreach ministry. The ministry began in 1992, when Audrey Telep, a longtime church member, began giving away free clothing. Audrey’s Closet, as the ministry was called, grew and became Audrey’s Outreach when free food was added in 2014. Audrey’s Outreach became a distribution center for The Greater Cleveland Food Bank in 2014. A summer lunch sack program was started in 2016 to help feed children over summer break. 

 

The need in the area is great and the Audrey’s Outreach ministry has spilled over into the community (both literally and figuratively!) After using every available square inch of the church building, a vacant apartment in a local retirement center was converted into additional storage and a free-standing walk-in freezer/cooler was recently installed. Additional volunteers from local churches and the community have joined this labor of love and work regular shifts alongside Brook Park Community Church of the Brethren volunteers.

 

Boxes of pre-packed dry goods are visible in the foyer through the church’s window.

Volunteers drive to local stores each week to pick up donations of soon-to-be-expired produce and other grocery items. Additional volunteers pick up donations from bakeries and restaurants. Volunteers unload trucks, sort and weigh donations, and prepare for open pantry sessions which are held twice a week: Mondays between 11:30 am and 2 pm and Thursdays between 4 pm and 7 pm.

During these open pantry sessions, individuals and families in need can access a ample supply of groceries for their entire household once every 4 weeks including meat, dairy, dry goods, produce & bread, and personal items when available. These individuals and families are referred to as clients and they are welcome to return more frequently than every 4 weeks for fresh produce.

Audrey’s Outreach is a free-choice pantry where under normal circumstances volunteers welcome clients into the church building, check them in, and then allow them to choose a certain number of foods from each category that they and their family members will eat. This eliminates waste (why give cheese to a lactose intolerant person or a box of sweetened cereal to a health conscious individual?) and provides clients with a sense of dignity and a bit of control when some circumstances in their lives might be out of their control.

 

When the COVID19 shutdown began, volunteers quickly converted the indoor operation into something safer for volunteers and clients alike. Without skipping a beat, over a weekend, volunteers created a new system and set up a drive-thru pantry in the church parking lot. Clients are no longer able to come into the building to select their own foods, but volunteers still ask them for some of their preferences and select accordingly as they are able. Some volunteers have been able to continue during COVID, but others haven’t because of risk factors or changes in their routine. New volunteers have come to help at the pantry as they now have more availability. Precautions have been taken to avoid spreading the virus: volunteers wear masks, face shields & gloves.

Due to COVID19, the church building is not being used for services and activities at this time. Our pastor and others record worship services off-site and meet via Zoom. Audrey’s Outreach continues to expand and is currently using almost every room in the church to store food and clothes for the ministry. Even the sanctuary is currently serving as a temporary stockroom!

Audrey’s Outreach currently distributes food to 725 families representing 2900 individuals. Each month an average of 55,000 pounds of food is distributed. Additionally, through the summer Lunch Sack program which has also been converted to a drive-thru, Audrey’s Outreach distributes a week’s worth of breakfast, lunch and snacks to the families of 128 children.

During normal times, Audrey’s Outreach was serving 125-140 families per week. Since the pandemic began, things have been much less predictable. At first, demand slowed down even though new clients were coming each week. Unemployment benefits and federal stimulus checks allowed some families to make it on their own. When things first shut down, food donations increased as restaurants temporarily closed and then adjusted to business in a pandemic. Finding freezer space for donations was a challenge. People’s grocery shopping patterns were very different which had a big impact on the donations we received from stores. Recently, need has been increasing, with averages of 165-180 families per week. With the expiration of the stimulus package, rising unemployment and evictions looming, Audrey’s Outreach is expecting demand to continue to increase.

Audrey’s Outreach has no paid staff and relies on donations and grants to operate. All programs are managed and run exclusively by volunteers who are from Brook Park Community Church of the Brethren, other nearby churches and the local community. Their volunteer service exceeds 1,250 hours each month.

Each week volunteers pick up donations from:

  • 1 Aldis
  • 1 Target
  • 3 Marc’s
  • 2 Giant Eagles
  • Pepperidge Farm
  • 1 Costco
  • Outback
  • Pizza Hut
  • Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

Each week the pantry orders and receives a shipment from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Some items are provided for free and others are paid for by financial donations made to Audrey’s Outreach.

Shelf-stable donations from individuals accepted during pantry hours. These items are checked & wiped before being redistributed,

A local farm takes distributable produce to feed their chickens & goats.

When there’s too much bread & produce to distribute to pantry clients, Audrey’s Outreach shares the bounty with Middleburg Heights Pantry, the Salvation Army & Quarrytown (a local retirement home).

Interested in helping? Donations are welcome and volunteer opportunities are available.

http://www.audreysoutreach.org/

https://www.facebook.com/AudreysOutreach

 

 

 

Station 1: get a number A masked volunteer puts a number under the windshield wiper of each car.

Station 3: main door of church food pick up Volunteers load groceries into a client’s open trunk.

Station 2: check in A masked volunteer checks clients in and tells pantry volunteers how many are in the household and if there are any special requests for the order. New clients are asked for their name, date of birth, address and phone number. They are asked to list the name and birthday of each member of their household.

Station 4: miscellaneous goods An optional last stop is offered to distribute clothing and other items that are available. Clients must remain in their car, but they can request items or a grab bag of clothing which has been sorted by size.

 

 

Lunch sack supplies fill the sanctuary pews. Against the wall, pre-packed boxes from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank await distribution during open pantry.

Pre-sorted bags of dry goods are ready for an open pantry session.

Racks of bread that has been donated by local stores and bakeries.

 

 

Prepacked boxes labeled 3-4 (for households of 3-4 people) are lined up for easy access during an open pantry session.

A volunteer takes a mask break while she works the produce table located in the fellowship hall.

Volunteers in the office keep things running smoothly while wearing masks and maintaining distance.

 

 

A pantry volunteer selects meat from the freezer for a client. He is holding the card which tells him how many people are in the client’s household and if there are any special needs or dietary restrictions.

A volunteer takes a break from organizing clothing in the Sunday school classrooms. Clothing is placed into grab bags according to size and distributed to clients who request it.

Dry goods are stacked on shelves in a corner of the fellowship hall.