In the LeDroit Park area of Washington D.C. stands St.George’s Episcopal Church. It is a quiet, cloudy, humid, Saturday May morning in D.C. The smell of bacon paves a path from the Church’s front door down to its basement and into the kitchen. Here, smiling African-American men and women are cooking up lots and lots of scrambled—with American-cheese added—eggs (yes, all cracked by hand!), pancakes, baked turkey bacon, and hot coffee. The boom-box blares gospel music in the background, as this enthusiastic group of volunteers from all over the greater D.C. area concentrates on their task at hand.
Near the kitchen, in another room, many people, mostly middle-aged and older African-American men, sit around neatly set tables. Some are “regulars,” everyone present is African-American, and a few families have wandered in. Many are chatting, sipping coffee, or staring at the walls adorned with brightly colored, paper, African-American dancers; and waiting to be served a hot, freshly-cooked, breakfast.
Welcome to Kwanzaa (Swahili for first harvest) Kitchen, an outreach program of St.George’s Episcopal Church. It began in 1992, as the Breakfast Program. Modeled after the Black Panthers’ free breakfast programs for children in California, Kwanzaa Kitchen was started and continues, under Janis Evans (the St George’s Outreach Chair, and program coordinator for Kwanzaa Kitchen), to serve breakfast, every other Saturday morning, to the needy and the homeless.
In addition to the cooked items, grapefruit juice (right now, it’s cheaper than apple or orange juices), cereal (today, Honey Nut Cherrios), milk, and occasionally, fresh fruit are also offered.
Before breakfast is served, a count is taken of how many “first-timers” (breakfast diners) are present and how many “carry-outs” each would like. Each diner is entitled to up to three “carry-outs,” or a Styrofoam to-go container filled with three-pancakes, two strips of bacon, and a heaping spoon-full of eggs; syrup, butter, and utensils in the bag.
At 09:00am, Janis walks into the dinning room to welcome the guests and to read a scripture. Today, it was about love (1 Corinthians 13). “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…”
Patrons are then served a plate of two pancakes, two strips of bacon, and a heaping spoon of eggs (or any requested combination of the foods mentioned). After all are served, those not wishing to ‘dine-in’ may pick up a carry-out meal. All left-over food is donated to shelters in the area. Replace the word love in the quotation above with the word food, and it illustrates the unique outreach of Kwanzaa Kitchen.
Food is patient, food is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Food does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…
…as have those that have consumed breakfast from Kwanzaa Kitchen; particularly, given the substantial demographic transition that has occurred in the area over the past few years. Primarily, housing prices have increased, access to affordable housing options have decreased, and some shelters have closed.
Kwanzaa Kitchen may have served around 200 meals (~50 “first timers”) this past Saturday, but these numbers are above average in recent years. Perhaps, more area residents’ are acquiring food or breakfast through other means than in the past. But given the tough financial times and few places to purchase affordable foods or meals in the area this is unlikely.
Meanwhile, Janis has observed that “a lot of the indigenous residents have been pushed out. I very rarely see black children playing in the neighborhood anymore. I even think that Metro’s elimination of the paper bus token to ride the bus after you get off the train may have kept some patrons from getting to the breakfast because they can’t afford to buy a monthly bus pass.”
It is “the people,” or the camaraderie among volunteers and the warmth of the diners that keeps the volunteers coming back. Likewise, it is clear that patrons come back because, as one patron explains, “[Kwanzaa Kitchen is] like a restaurant to me, good service, beautiful ladies, very clean place, don’t have drama up in here, lots of respect, morals and values. People respect one another, say, ‘may I or can I.’”
Ideally, maybe one day, Kwanzaa Kitchen will be a real restaurant; also for and by the people. And may it not need to exist to fill a gap in America’s social service system.
