The metal foldable chairs lined up in long rows filling up the lobby of the Southwest Community Center. Around 2:00 p.m., people walked in with water dripping from their coats and umbrellas and filed in a long line that wrapped down the hallway to sign in and receive a number. They sat with large cardboard boxes and wire carts waiting for their pick of produce.
The Fresh Food Give-away runs through the Southwest Community Center’s Nutrition Support program and works in coalition with the Food Bank of Central New York. They provide produce that would otherwise be thrown out by local groceries and work with organizations like the Southwest Community Center to provide nutritious foods to those in need.
35 percent of residents in Syracuse are living in poverty, according to the United States census, and in 2015, 34 percent of the black community were living impoverished.
The southwest neighborhood f Syracuse is 75 percent black, the median household income is around 18,000 dollars per year (with an average of almost three people in each home), and almost 60 percent of residents are food stamp recipients. The Southwest Community center resides right in the middle of this neighborhood, giving the community access to fresh produce that they may not otherwise have.
Eddie Mitchell, an employee and mentor at the Southwest Community Center for the past seven years sees community members that have been hit hard with poverty, and explains how at times it breaks his heart.
“It’s sad, you see a lot of kids or adults you know or people you went to school with and your just like, ‘damn, they’re messed up like that?’” Mitchell said. “It hurts, but it’s a blessing you can give back to somebody else.”
The Fresh Food Give-away takes place the third Friday of each month, where a truck from the Food Bank of Central New York drops of boxes of fresh produce; eggs, apples, bananas, carrots, yogurt, bread, turkey, deserts, and much more.
Tracy Corriders, an operations director at the Southwest Community Center explained that this program has been here for a number years and they expect at least 90 people, and that’s on a slow day. During the holidays, they’ve had 125 people crowd in the small lobby waiting for the truck.
“They can put some food on the table because it’s close to the end of the month and their food stamps are running out,” Corriders said. “So that’s why we have a lot of people and that’s why the numbers are the way they are.”
Verleen Shelley, otherwise known by passerby’s as Pepper, is 56 and has lived in Syracuse for 35 years. She attends this Fresh Food Give-away every month and she explained that it gives her a way to give her son healthier food options, like fruits and vegetables, without breaking her budget.
“My son is 31, he has down-syndrome, and he has to lose weight,” Shelley said. “He has a big hernia and he has to lose 30 pounds before he can get surgery, and that’s very hard for me.”
There are many different places in the area that provide food pantries, like St. Lucy’s Food Pantry, the Dunbar Center, and even the Southwest Community Library provides a separate food pantry. But the pantries don’t have the same fresh and healthy options, similar to many of the restaurants in the area.
Mitchell explains there are a number of corner stores with fast-food options like fried chicken and pizza in the community, and not as many fresh food vendors, so this is one way to get more nutritious food to the community at no cost.
Karen, who is originally from Syracuse, has been coming to this giveaway for the past two years. She held an ice pack on her right shoulder while she explained how living on disability makes it difficult for her to buy healthier foods and how grateful she is to be given better choices.
“It’s the generosity and I don’t take this for granted,” Karen said. “It’s the Food Bank of Central New York, but it’s the kindness and generosity of the Southwest Community Center for allowing them to come here.”
Mitchell said that many people show him and the Southwest Community Center appreciation for providing the fresh food giveaway, thanking them for the food for that day and just for pointing them in the direction of better food, and he feels blessed that he can be a part of helping those that are in need of food in his community and opening up the doors to locally grown produce.