Episode 313- Feeding A County Hidden In Plain Sight. With Ruth Mageria

Palm Beach County gets portrayed as sunshine and wealth, but that picture leaves out the families choosing between rent and groceries, seniors stretched by HOA hikes, and working parents who cannot keep up with prices. I sit down with Ruth Mageria, executive leader at Cros Ministries, to talk about the real mechanics of hunger and food insecurity and what it takes to keep neighbors fed with healthy food, not just something to fill a stomach.

We dig into how a community food pantry actually works, why a food bank is different, and how USDA emergency food assistance and local donations move through a supply chain of trucks, warehouses, volunteers, and distribution sites. Ruth shares what Cros sees on the ground: rising demand that now tops the COVID era, first-time visitors during government shutdowns, and the quiet embarrassment people feel when they never imagined needing help. We also address tough questions about nonprofit accountability, audits, board oversight, and the common misconception that “a nice car” means someone is gaming the system.

Then we widen the lens to Cros’s Caring Kitchen hot meal program, homebound meal delivery, and gleaning, recovering fresh Florida produce that would otherwise go to waste. If you care about hunger relief, community partnerships, healthy nutrition, and practical solutions that scale, this conversation will give you both clarity and a path to action. Subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review, and tell us what your community is doing to close the gap.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Food Matters

Rich Helppie 0:31

Hello, welcome to the Common Bridge. I'm your host, Rich Healthy, with a very important topic. We're going to be talking about food, nutrition, and making sure that everyone in this great land is fed and fed well. And with us today to talk about this is Ruth McGaria of Cross Ministries. She has been on the staff of Cross for 24 non-consecutive years and has held the executive position for the last 12 years. Ruth, welcome to the Common Bridge. I'm so glad you take the time to meet with us today.

Ruth’s Story And Cross Mission

SPEAKER_02 1:07

And thank you, Rich. It's really good to meet you, and it's good to be here and especially talking about a very important topic.

Rich Helppie 1:16

Indeed. We all need to eat every day, and we need to eat well. And that's not always possible. So if you don't mind, can you give the listeners, readers, and viewers of the Common Bridge maybe a little bit about your biography and then a little bit about what Cross Ministries is up to?

How Cross Food Pantries Work

SPEAKER_02 1:34

So just a little bit about myself. Again, my name is Ruth McGuerrier, and I am originally from Kenya and have been in this country, the United States of America, since 1995. And what brought me to the US is school. I came, I did my grad uh studies in Maryland at Towson University. And then in 1997, I moved down to Florida, to West Palm Beach, Florida, and I was able to start working with Cross Ministries. And Cross Ministries is an agency and a faith-based organization that has been in the community since 1978. So we are about to celebrate, we are celebrating 48 years, but looking forward to 50 years very soon in a couple of years. And the mission of Cross is to work with people in the community, to work with community partners and collaborate with them so that we can make sure that those who are hungry, those who are food insecure have food to eat. Our vision, and if we were to do our job well, it's to make sure that everyone who is in need has access to healthy food. That's bottom line, who we are and what we do and how we want to do it. And we were begun originally, Cross Ministries was begun originally by a group of congregations in Palm Beach County, United Methodist congregations in Palm Beach County, who felt there was need for a ministry or an agency like Cross so that the congregations, the churches could support that program instead of people who needed food going from one church to the other. And so that's how Cross was begun. But as I think about who Cross is today, 48 years later, we are an interfaith organization that works with people from different faith communities, different faith traditions, because it doesn't matter where you are, which community of faith you belong to, and also even whether you are a business, whether you're a corporation, whether you are another nonprofit, we can all agree that there are people in our community who need food to eat. And we can all agree that we can come together and do that. So in a nutshell, that's who Cross is. And uh, you know, in in a while I will talk about some of the ways we are able to ensure that people have food to eat.

Rich Helppie 3:58

Well, let's go there. Is this about food pantries? It is it prepared foods? Do people come to pick up food? Do they get delivered to their home? How do you go about making sure people get fed?

SPEAKER_02 4:13

So we do this through different uh three different programs. So our food pantries, our community food pantries are really our biggest program. And we are based in Palm Beach County. Uh uh, you know, so we have nine different locations in Palm Beach County where we have food pantries, and then we also have one that's in Martin County. So we are kind of for, you know, and and I know your listeners are all over the world and all over the US. Uh, we are in South Florida, that's where we are, uh, the bottom half of Florida. And so we're in Palm Beach County, and uh nine of those Palm Beach uh locations are here in Palm Beach County, and then we have one in Martin County. When you think about food pantries, that's where people come in and they receive food assistance, non-perishable food items. They'll receive uh fruits and vegetables, they'll receive meat, uh, you know, frozen products, whether it's meat, but it's where we this is not prepared meals. This is kind of going to the grocery store. When you think about food pantries, and I want to say a little bit about that because there's always a confusion about food pantries and food banks. Those are two different things. Food banks and different communities have food banks. Food banks are are kind of where we as food pantries and hot meal programs go to get food. And then we give it out to those who are in need. So somebody who needs food assistance, when they go to a food bank, they may not necessarily be able to get food because the food bank, the way the food bank is uh is is uh set up, it's to be able to give large quantities of food to agencies like Cross. So that's who food, you know, Cross Ministries is and what we do within our food pantries. As I said, we have food pantries. If you if you're familiar with the Palm Beach County area, they are as far west as Belle Glade, which is on the western side of uh Palm Beach County, all the way to the east along the I-95 corridor, south to Delray Beach, north to Martin County, and that's in Indian town and everywhere in between. In 2026, in 2025, we served 121,000 individuals with uh through our food pantry program. That number continues to increase. When I think about our food pantries, especially, we have seen the need increase every single year. It's actually worse today than it was during COVID. And sometimes that's hard to even fathom. A lot of our people coming into our food pantries, many of them have jobs, many of them are working, the money just isn't enough. And they're having to make very difficult choices. Do I buy food? Do I pay my rent? Do I pay my mortgage? Do I make sure that I put gas in my car so that I can get to work and be able to pay my bills? And so that's who's coming to our food pantries uh in terms of, you know, in terms of people coming in. So that's one of the areas we do we serve.

Rich Helppie 7:21

That's very interesting. I did not know that distinction between a food bank and a food pantry. So is it the way it works is that the food bank obtains food through donations, or people give them money, charitable donations to acquire food, and then they allocate some to you? Or do you sometimes get food or donations from other sources?

Food Banks USDA And Donations

SPEAKER_02 7:44

So the way food, so the food banks, the way they operate, they do get food from, you know, big donations. They also, you know, they have their warehouses are much larger than most of us, like food pantries or even an agency that like cross, which right now we have um, I would say over 3,000 square feet of uh storage space for our food pantries, for for our warehouse, the warehouse that feeds our food pantries and our hotmeal program that I'll talk about. But then the way so for us as an agency, we are also uh securing food through food donations. Uh people will have food drives and donate to cross ministries. Uh, people will have, you know, we'll be able to go out and purchase food. Some of the money on our budget is allocated to go out and purchase food because we don't get all the food that we need from the food, from the food banks. However, the food bank is also able to receive uh uh USDA funding, and that's the emergency food assistance program. That's a separate line item on the US and under USDA, and they're able to receive that some of that funding, and some of that food then goes to us. Our local food banks here in Palm Beach County, you know, have over 100 agencies that are registered with them that receive food from them.

Rich Helppie 8:59

For people that aren't familiar with Florida and particularly Palm Beach, they hear Palm Beach and they think, oh, West Palm Beach, it's a very wealthy area. It's uh where the president of the United States lives. And there's tremendous wealth. It just seems a little incongruous that, gosh, there are people in Palm Beach County that are in need of food. For people that aren't familiar with the county itself, can you talk a little bit about that? Because I'm sure this is going to come as a surprise to folks.

Palm Beach Hunger Behind The Wealth

SPEAKER_02 9:31

And and Rich, I'll tell you this. Every time I'm out and about, every time I, you know, like I'll go to, for example, Washington, D.C., because you know, we we do go uh to DC too for different uh causes. Or even when I do go back to my own home country of Kenya and people are hearing the work I do, it's an you it's very difficult to understand. And I think I want to also maybe here before even I talk about Pan Beach County, also talk about the fact that right now the uh the term that we are using, there's hunger where people truly don't have anything to eat. And that's there. But the big one that we face here in our community is food insecurity, where people there is food to eat, but it's not enough. People are having to make choices. It may not even be healthy because when we think about food, we're not just thinking about what people are eating, but also is it healthy? Are we having fruits and vegetables? So that, you know, so that's a big thing to also think about when you think about Palm Beach County and food insecurity. The second thing that I want to say is that here in Palm Beach County, and yes, we do have the island of Palm Beach, which is where the president has a home, but if you think about Palm Beach County, a hundred and ninety two thousand individuals are considered food insecure. That's a huge number. When you think about our public school system, the you know, the district, the Palm Beach County School District, almost one in every four children is food insecure. So we have a lot and they are on either free or reduced lunches. So the biggest thing about hunger and food insecurity, it's it's about it's not just about not having um not having food to eat, it's about not having access to the right food that is needed, as well as not having enough food to eat. Pambich County is also very expensive. A lot of, and that's what is really pushing people coming into our food pantries. Rents are very high, mortgages have gone up because of all the hurricanes that have hit Florida, insurance, homeowners' insurance costs are high. When you also think about um our seniors, and that's a huge uh population of people who do not have our food insecure because they are on a fixed income. Their HOA fees have increased drastically. And so the money they had put aside for food has to go to make you know, payment, you know, they have to pay their HOA fees. I mean, right now, in just the last month, gas prices have skyrocketed. It's over a dollar a gallon that I'm paying, you know, into for gas. Those are some of the things that cause food insecurity. But then I'll also say for those who are not familiar with Palm Beach County, if you head from the eastern Palm Beach County, which is where the island of Palm Beach is, and you head west to the Glades, which is the western part of Palm Beach County, very drastic. You everything is very different. You know, everything changes. Um, you know, you have your very those who are wealthy and having you know a lot, and then everybody in between. So that's some of the misconception that we have when you think about Palm Beach County.

Rich Helppie 12:56

Thank you for that, because I know that will help our listeners, our readers, and our viewers understand the mission. Before I go into that, I want to say that I have a substantial background in educational support and in healthcare. And in both of those, what we know in healthcare unequivocally, the data shows it, is that much disease is alleviated with good food. Yes. Yes. Okay, that obesity is for overprocessed foods, chemicals and colors and things that cause diabetes and hypertension and all of those long-term killers. So we know that feeding people is less expensive than treating them for bad food. Yeah. And then my work in educational philanthropically is that you've got to have that child in school fed, or they can't learn. Yes. So many school districts are providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner and a backpack to take home and things to pick up uh over the summer. So, you know, getting people fed really goes many different directions. But let me ask you this, if I may. So I understand how food comes into the bank, comes into the pantry, and then how do people know to get this? And do they have to have transportation to come pick it up? How do you get food from the pantry into people's mouths?

Logistics Warehouses Volunteers And Access

SPEAKER_02 14:31

I'll even answer that question in a broader way, because you're, you know, you're really talking about infrastructure right now and logistics. And that's one of the biggest things that's almost sometimes a bottleneck in the work that we do. And sometimes we don't think about. So even before we get to the people, I'll talk about before the food gets to cross, before the food gets to agencies like cross ministries, it has to come from either the food bank, maybe sometimes it's grocery stores that give donations, different congregations, different businesses, different schools will have food drives. So they'll have all that. So the first thing that we have to do is to make sure that food gets to cross so that we can distribute it. So we need vehicles, we need to be able to have access to be able to go pick it up, you need staffing to be able to do that. So Cross has that, but not everybody does. And then I'm talking about some of the agencies, and there are many agencies in not just Palm Beach County, but I'm sure you know all over the, you know, especially the communities, that do very good work, but maybe they are volunteer run, they don't have the vehicles, they don't have access to funding to purchase what is needed. So that's a big one. So once the food gets to cross, then we need to make sure that we have the capacity to hold the food that is needed. A lot of places don't have that capacity, don't have a warehouse. We have a where we have warehouse space in different locations that totals to over 3,000 uh square feet. Not many people have that. So that food comes into our warehouses. We bring in volunteers that will sort it because when you do food drives, food is collected and everything is in there. But we need to make sure we know how many, you know, we have vegetables, uh, we have mac and cheese, we have pastas, we have meat. We categorize it because when we give out a bag of food at cross, we want to make sure that there are some standard staples that go into that bag. We want to make sure people have that. And you talked about um making sure that it's nutritious, that it's not just about eating food, it's about eating the right food. So you have that, and then we at cross we have, you know, um warehouse uh trucks, box trucks that are able to then distribute, take the food from our big warehouse to our different pantries, because our different pantries, we don't have space to store food worth a month. You know, when we have you know more than um 50, 60 families coming in every single day, we we don't have that much space. And most of our space, and we are really grateful because a lot of our space is uh given to us, donated to us through collaborations with different churches and congregations, uh different community groups and other nonprofits, different municipalities and cities. So it's not as big of a space, you know, that we have. So we have to make sure that the food is in there. And then the other big one is now how do people get to us? So we do have, we for us here in Palm Beach County, we through the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan uh through United Way of Palm Beach County, we have what is called a food finder map. And so if somebody googles food finder map, Palm Beach County, a map comes up that tells them where different food pantries are in our community, what time they are open, uh what they need to do to get food. So that's one of the ways people are able to figure out where food pantries are. At Cross, we are able to uh do that through our website, through our own social media pages, but a very big one is through word of mouth. If someone comes to one of our pantries, then they're able to go and tell some of their other uh friends where they can go to.

Rules Screening And Serving With Dignity

Rich Helppie 18:15

And and at the pantry, are you expecting people to come in like we know that this particular family comes in every week? Or when you open your doors in the morning, you're never sure who's gonna walk through that door.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

We are never sure who's going to walk through that door. Um now we with our food pantries, and I want to make it clear that this is cross-ministries food pantries. Yes. You know, we people can come in twice a month, they can receive food from us twice a month, and we have a way, a system of make, you know, verifying that. They we do not verify income. Um, we or rather we do, yeah. So we because we receive uh food from the USDA through our food banks, the USDA has a form that people self-declare their own income or whether they're receiving uh different benefits from the government to help them qualify for the USDA food. So that's what we use. But if somebody comes in, you know, they'll get food. But we are not, they we they don't qualify. It's not like we're asking them to bring all their financial paperwork to come in and get food. So that's how they come in. So when they come in, we we really don't know who's coming in. Um and we just and that's why I said our goal is to make sure we have enough food that will last that time. There are times we've had in some of our food pantries within an hour and a half. We've had had 120 households come through within one hour and a half, and we're able to get them through, or sometimes two hours. So we don't know that. We just want to make sure we have the food that we need. And if we run out on that day, then the pantry coordinator there will then you know let our warehouse know that we do need to bring in more food.

Rich Helppie 19:58

This is really interesting. So I wanted to unwrap that a little bit. So if I am a person, a resident in Palm Beach County, I can't just walk in and say, I'm hungry today, please give me a box of food. I have to fill out a government form, and then you put it in a system so that you know if I'm coming in every day. You'll know, wait a minute, you you can only come in twice a month. Is that how it works? Yes. And that is because there's taxpayer money in there, and that comes with certain obligations. And then you said the food finding that is through United Way, so through the charity end of the food finder map.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

That is just to let you know what other agencies in the community are providing food assistance. So we are registered there. Uh, but let me go back to kind of what you're saying in terms of coming in. So when you come in, the amount of food you receive, again, I'm talking about cross ministries because each each pantry is different. But for us at Cross, we make sure that you're getting food and it's dependent on your family size. So if you have, you know, it's just an individual, one to three, they'll there's a standard bag, they get if they are more people, then they'll you they'll get that. And we do ask to, we we ask that we see how many people are in your family. And it's very simple. If you have school report cards, if you have anything, you know, some something from like you had applied for SNAP benefits, and you have, you know, you have a letter that shows the number of people. We we take that. So we are not making sure that you know you bring all your children in. Because at the end of the day, I say this the people who are coming to our food pantries don't want to be there. If they did not need to, they wouldn't be. However, most people are coming in because they have people that depend on them. A lot of parents are coming in because they have children. I say this when my son was younger, he's now a young adult. I would have done whatever it took. To make sure he had food to eat. We have so many stories of grandparents who are taking care of grandchildren. And they had already retired on a fixed income. They did not know they were going to be taking care of their grandchildren. Then we have also so many people who are coming in because, you know, like last year in November during the government shutdown, so many people came in because they didn't have money to go out to the grocery store and buy food.

Support The Common Bridge

Rich Helppie 22:26

These are the interesting things that people need to know about. So I will tell you, I didn't know how they worked, but I am interested in hearing what you're saying: that there is eligibility, there is screening, there is at least some measurement of how often someone can come in. And those are great barriers to make sure that the charitable hearts are not abused. And that it's very responsible. You mentioned the government shutdown. And look, I think we can all agree that the government, I don't care what side of the aisle one might be on, they're ineffective doing their basic job, which is let's keep the doors open. That doesn't seem to be that hard. But the ripple effect, when SNAP benefits stopped and EBT benefits stopped, what did you see in your food pantries on those events?

Commercial Speaker 23:20

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When SNAP Stops Pantry Lines Grow

SPEAKER_02 24:04

So we saw so many people coming in. So many people coming in that we did not expect. We saw an air controller who came in with his family who did not even know what to do. Because if you're coming in for the first time, if I go to the pantries, you know, I'm putting myself in someone's shoes. I've never been to a pantry. Maybe I'm the one who has given to the pantries. You know, I'm the one who my whether it's my church or my, you know, my faith community of faith, my synagogue. We are the ones who do food drives. Uh my business does a food drive, and then I'm left, you know, then either my job is my, you know, I don't have money coming in. So I'm going to a food pantry. I don't even know what is needed. I don't know what to do. I'm coming in very embarrassed because I never wanted to be in this position. I'm coming in thinking, am I taking food from somebody who really needs it? Because I'm thinking, at least I have some money, hopefully, that's coming in the next few weeks. Can I wait until then? So a lot of, you know, so I want to say, and I'm emphasizing on the people coming into our food pantries not wanting to be there. Um, I've been at a food pantry where somebody came in, and it broke my heart to hear that, you know, I last year my business did a food drive during Thanksgiving, and I was the one who led the charge. But now I'm not, I don't have a job and I need food, and here I am. And sometimes I even ask him, what can I do? Can I volunteer so that I can get this food? Because a lot of people aren't used to just receiving food because you're used to doing something for it. So it's really hard when you also see people coming in with their children very early in the morning. When you think about the summer months, I mean, I know we, you know, summer we still have a few months to go before summer, but you know, children are out of school. There are no summer camps, they don't have enough food to eat. So it's it's really difficult when you think about that. But you know, I want to talk about some of our other programs because they do build into some of the work that we do and the bigger picture about food security.

Rich Helppie 26:06

Before we jump over there, I understand how the need gets created and how people find you and the screenings that you do and that the reluctance that they have. What's been your experience with people using the food pantry for nutrition temporarily and then becoming employed or otherwise finding resources and they're no longer a beneficiary? Any insight on that?

Accountability Audits And Misuse Fears

SPEAKER_02 26:32

I have that. I have that. I will give you a personal story that still gives me goosebumps today. So a few years ago, we had just moved into uh the office space that we are in, and um I needed, we needed, you know, we I went to the uh that's local, our local municipality because we needed to pay make a utility payment. And Rich, I'll tell you I wasn't a very happy camper because I we had done everything we needed to do, but I still needed to go in because something, somebody hadn't done what they needed to do. So I walk into this office. Um I happen to have my shirt, I don't have it today, that says cross ministries staff. And I, you know, I wait in line, and when I get to the counter, the lady looks at me who's serving me, and she's like, Thank you so much. And I'm looking at her and I have no idea. I don't know her. I don't know why she's thanking me. And she looks at me and I said, and you know, and I ask her, Do I know you? And she says, You're from Cross Ministries. And I said, Yes. And she said, you know what? Last year I was without a job, and I came to Cross Ministries, the food pantry, and you all made sure that I had food to eat. I got food. And we have volunteers, they gave me food, they listened to me, they told me everything would be okay. And today I have a job, and I want to thank you because you made sure through your cross ministries and the food pantries, I had food to give my children. And so this particular lady doesn't need to come to the food pantry because now she has a job and doesn't need that. So we have so many people like that. Others who have come to our food pantry, and because they come on a regular basis, we are seeing them either once or twice a month. We have volunteers and staff who work at the pantries. We get to know them and we're like, we haven't seen, you know, so and so in quite a while. And then, you know, five months later, they pull in in their car and they have food that they are bringing to say thank you because of you. That's beautiful. I'm bringing food because, you know, so the so that's who though that's who we are working with. I also want to say something else, especially about the government shutdown. Yes, we had a lot of people who are looking for food assistance, but I will also let you know that the community came together because they would they could see what was happening with all those lines at different food areas. They knew people weren't getting paid, and people are calling our office line was running off the hook because people wanted to know how we can help? How can we come and volunteer? How can we give? So at the end of the day, we also have a community that comes in and stands in the gap with agencies that like cross that are just trying to make sure that people have food to eat.

Rich Helppie 29:15

I think that is a very important lesson and one that I'd like to take a little time with this because it goes to policy decisions. Now, I don't think this is legal, but in our latest calamity from Washington, the TSA workers at the airport weren't getting paid. And when you think about the level of ridiculous, Congress mandated the screenings. Congress mandated that they would have a monopoly on who did the screening. Congress did not fund the screeners. And someone said, you know, there should just be a collection jar next to the TSA screeners. And when you go through, put a dollar or five dollars in. And I'm like, there you go. Just go right around the bureaucracy. Because people generally, if they see need, they are going to want to support. And but here's some of the stories in the news that we we should probably talk about, because I'm gonna venture that you run into this. Um, and there's three things I'm gonna give you because it all may have the same level of response. So, one, part of it might be easy if you have professional staff working for Cross or any place in that chain, where does the funding come from? Secondly, that if people are dependent on that government chain, where does it start? I did no idea that the USDA came and did that on a regular basis. That seems to be risky. And and then coupled with that is the calamities that we've seen in Minnesota, where money was given from the taxpayers to ostensibly feed people that nobody got fed. And people are going, well, wait a minute, why are we doing that? All right, and then the third thing, this is a personal observation, it's just a question. Back last Christmas, there was a group at a church saying they're providing Christmas dinner. And they had the early reporter out on the street, and these are people waiting for the church to open so they could get their Christmas dinner. And the cars and vehicles they were coming in were better than your average car. So those are the three kinds of things that people are looking at this going, well, where is the salaries coming from? What about the misspent government money that's in there? And are there people that take advantage of the system? And how prevalent is that?

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Okay, let me answer that. And you'll have to, because I I don't have my pen with me. So I didn't write, I didn't write all those. So please remind me, uh, you know, let me start off by let me start off with um the whole idea, and and it's true, there are agencies that may come up that are not using the funds that are, they're not being good stewards of the funds that have been given to them. That goes without saying. But I will say this here in Palm Beach County, we have a group called Nonprofits First, and they are an accreditation agency. And we, as Cross, are accredited to have the highest level of excellency with them. So that means they'll come and check our books, they check our 990, they check our, we have we are as cross, we are audited every single year. So we invest in an audit firm to come and do that. And they they they go through everything, not just the financial part, they go through the governance part of our board, they go through the uh fundraising and where are we getting these monies from and how is it being allocated? And are we doing when we apply for funding from a funder, we are, you know, the it's very specific, this is what we are going to do. And then we do I have a report that says this is what we did, and these are the people that we fed. So those are some of the things that uh that that uh help with the checks and balances that way. So being accredited is important because then you make sure that something that that's that like that that happened, you know, you that we talked about is not happening within. But the other big thing, and I want to talk about this because you know, some of your um the viewers and listeners might also be on boards of nonprofits. It is a responsibility of the board to ensure that they have a fit, the board directors have a fiduciary responsibility. So they need to be, uh my board is always asking those questions. They receive finance reports every single month. And they'll be asking, hmm, are we doing the right thing? Do we have what it takes to be sustainable? If not, do we have, you know, this is the need, these are the people who we are serving, these are the resources that are coming in. Are they enough to keep us going? You know, so that's the board's responsibility. So that's you know how I'll answer that question. The second one was about, and believe you me, Rich, we get this all the time. The people who are coming in for food have better cars than we are do. Not just staff, but even we have a lot of volunteers. And this is what I'm going to say about that. We have no idea where those people are coming from or what got them into that. For many people, so for example, today, if I lost my job and I don't have enough food, people will see the car that I'm driving and think, well, Ruth is driving a really good car. She doesn't need to be coming to a food pantry. But I don't have a job, but that car is paid off. So I need that to keep that car so that I can look for another job and be able to go to work. So that's why I have that car. For some people, and this is so true, that car might also be their home. They may be homeless, they don't have a home, a roof over their heads, and so they want to make sure they keep that car because that might be where they have to spend the night. So I know it's very difficult, and believe you me, I had to learn this. As I mentioned, I come from Kenya. So when I started working at Cross many years ago, I didn't understand how someone could call me from their home and I could hear a TV in the background. And I'm thinking to myself, sell the TV and go buy food. But even if they sold their TV and sold their car, they'll only buy food for a very small uh, you know, a few months, and then they will be without food and they don't have a way to get to work. And I have to say, this here in Palm Beach County, I know other areas have good trans public transportation. Here in Palm Beach County, if you don't have a car, it's very difficult to move from place to place. So that's how I would answer that, you know, the question of people's cars, people's vehicles, what do you do? And so for some people, you want to make sure you're still going to work and doing what you need to do. And again, I say that's the majority. I think the third thing you had asked me was about funding and where the sources of our funding. Was that one of the questions?

Rich Helppie 36:01

Well, no, I'm I was asking about where the tax money flows in because I did not know USDA was in the food banks. That was interesting. And also when Snap went away, you were there. You were the social safety net. You made sure people in the community got fed. And of course, I had to think maybe what you're doing is a better option than waiting for people in Congress to have their stupid fights and not send food. Nobody's gonna stop sending food to you. You know, like I'd I'd rather give you money to go feed people than to send it to Washington, you know.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

There you go. So I'll say, so in terms of the the within the food bank, the USDA that I mentioned is the food, the emergency food assistance program. That's that's some monies that go to the food banks to help purchase food that we receive. But then I'll also say last year we knew this, uh, you know, with with uh there are so many changes, and we lost some of our government funding uh through different programs that we received, so which has also meant that we've had to increase our fundraising um so that we are able to go out and purchase the food we need. I can also say food is much more expensive today than it was a year ago, and it's going to only get more expensive as we as we think about especially the you know gas prices, and we haven't even seen all that.

Hot Meals Home Delivery And Gleaning

Rich Helppie 37:25

Oh, the war in Iran is driven up fuel prices and fuels in everything. And if you're bringing in a load of tomatoes from Central Florida to Palm Beach County, it's gonna cost more to get those tomatoes there. Of course, at this date, uh we're recording this on April 2nd. We have no idea when these conditions are going to change. No, we don't. But in the meantime, you know, people are hungry. And I'm a devoted Christian, and we need to take care of people in our communities. And as in my public life, we need to make sure that we have a responsive government that has good policies doing sensible things. And we're we seem to be doing a lot better job if it's left up to the community than by washing it through bureaucracies that can be canceled on a whim.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

And and that's and I think for me, that's one of the things that that's one of the things we're balancing. I do really want to talk about two of our other programs, and one of them is we we have, you know, so I've talked about the food pantries, but we also have a hot meal program, uh, the caring kitchen, where we provide meals. And last year, 2025, we provided 50,000 meals through um at lunchtime. We caught we also collaborate with different partners in the Delray Beach area, and we're able to provide lunches uh five days a week uh and you know to people who are in need. And this is a hot meal. So you come in, and with this hot meal, we are not checking anything. If Rich, if you went to one of our sites today, you would get a meal because anybody who needs a meal receives that. But then also through the Caring Kitchen program, we are able to provide meals to those who are homebound. Now, with that program, we do verify that they are homebound, they're not able to come to any of our sites. Um, and we do it in a very uh specific area in Dalray Beach, three different zip codes, and we're able to provide a maximum of 120 meals. And the maximum is just because of our funding and the funding that we have. And at least people in those zip codes who are homebound have five meals a week. And then we collaborate with different other partners in Dalray Beach. And some of them, it could be a church that has different programs, but they don't have the capacity to be able to provide a meal, they cannot cook it, so we provide them with uh food that they are able to serve. Some others may be a group that has an outreach program, but they're not they don't have the capacity to provide the meal, and so we collaborate with them and we provide them the meal that they then go out and serve. So that's a caring kitchen. And the other last one is a gleaning. And for those of us who come from either, you know, uh whether it's Jewish or Christian background, I know that's something that's in the Torah, you know, uh in our the Bible, is where we go out and we recover fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste. Palm Beach County is a very rich agricultural community. Huge. And the farmers plant their crops, but then when they come to harvest, sometimes they'll sell, but sometimes they're not able to sell everything. Then I also say we as consumers are very um picky on what we want a tomato to look like. If it has a blemish, we are not buying it. If it's too big or too small, we will not buy that. And yet it's good quality produce. And so we are able to take volunteers. And uh last year, uh between November of 2024 and August of 2025, which is at the gleaning season, we were able, with over 3,700 volunteers, we were able to harvest or recover 460,000 pounds of fresh produce. And though that fresh produce went to our different food banks, uh different distribution partners, because that's more than we can accommodate across. So our different distribution partners, which include the food banks in our community and some of the other area agencies, came to the fields, they picked up the food, the fresh produce, and then they went and they distributed it to the different groups that come in. And I'll say this especially about our gleaning program. One, we provide, we talked about food as medicine or the fact that food is needed for us to stay healthy. The fact that we are able to introduce fresh fruits and vegetables into the system is really good because if you're on a fixed diet, a budget, that's the last thing you're thinking about. I'm not going to be thinking about apples and oranges and cucumbers and tomatoes because they're very expensive. So I'm really grateful we're able to do that. The second thing is our gleaning program, you can be as young as five-year-old this morning. Today is, as you said, is April 2nd. We had a group of students that were out in the field gleaning. So they can be as young as five years old, they could be as as uh seasoned. We had a 92-year-old once in the same with in a in a you know gleaning. But the best thing about this is to see children hold a tomato and they cannot believe that the tomato came from the field because for them they think tomatoes come from the grocery store or the potato comes. Because we don't know, you don't know. So that is awesome being able to see that. But for me, the other third thing when I think about gleaning, if you've ever gone gleaning, and when we go out and harvest the fresh produce, we're only there from about 8:30 to about 11:30. Just two and a half, three hours. But by the time you're done, you're tired. I mean, if you're you're bending, you're on your knees, you know, if you're doing potatoes or cucumbers or uh green peppers. But for me, it makes me appreciate our farm workers. Whenever I see my food, I know it just didn't get to the table. I eat a salad and I'm thinking, I know how these letters got here and it's hard work. I think about the cabbage and how it got here. So it makes me really appreciate our farm workers who work day in and day out and sometimes are not making enough. And I'm not even going to get into so many other things that are happening there, but that's what I will see.

How To Help And Final Charge

Rich Helppie 43:43

I hope that people that are affluent enough to have a device and the time to listen to a program like this will hear your words because this is what we're called to do is to make a positive contribution. And none of these bounties that are available to us just happened. It takes hard work and dedicated people like you. Ruth, as we wrap up today, just how do people get in touch with cross ministries if they would like to support this awesome work that you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 44:20

So they can do that through our website, and we are cross ministries, and it's C-R-O-S, just 1S Ministries. So they can go to our website, which is crossministriesall1word.org. Or Google us or find us. If you just put in cross ministries, again, I'm emphasizing it's C-ROS1S.org or you know, cross ministries, or even call our telephone number and it's area code 561239009. 561239009. And one of the things I would also want to say, you know, as we close, I want to close. Sometimes it the the work that we do, the need that are the you know, kind of this what I've talked about can be very, very overwhelming. And sometimes you're even thinking, even if I did a food drive with my school, with my synagogue, with my church, or brought in food, how does it make a difference? It's only two bags of food. But I'll say collectively, if we all did that collectively, we can make a difference. And whether you're in Palm Beach County or wherever you are, figure out what some of the needs in your community are. I want to end by with one of my favorite quotes by um the late uh um Archbishop Desmond Tutu of the South African Anglican church. And he said, Do your little bit of good wherever you are. It's those little bits of good that overwhelm the world. So if each of us did just one or two things, we will overwhelm the world with good, and we are going to be able to meet the needs of our neighbors.

Closing Thoughts And Subscribe

Rich Helppie 46:02

That is a beautiful closing comment. Godspeed to you and this important work that you're doing. And for the listeners, readers, and viewers of the Common Bridge, our future's in our hand. We talk a lot about policy. We're all frustrated by the fact that the people we hire to make good policies don't do it. It's gotten the opportunity to contribute to a wonderful place like Cross Ministries. And as we learned today, you have the opportunity to go into a field and find vegetables on, you know, come on a South Florida summer day to find out what real work's about. And with our guests from Cross Ministries, Ruth McGuoria, this is your host, Rich Helpie, signing off on the Common Bridge.

Announcer 46:47

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