September 2010

Bezerra de Menezes Kardecian Spiritist Center

6450 NW 77th Ct 2nd Floor Miami Fl 33166

www.spiritist.com/fp

Bezerra de Menezes Food Pantry Report

ItItItIt is 11 in the morning and we are still waiting for our

shipment to be pulled out in the Food Bank warehouse.

We expected to be out of there by 11:45 AM, with

enough time to deliver the food products to the food

pantry and be on time to pick up my son at school, he

comes out at 2:20 PM.

Now a pallet is pulled up to the dock and the warehouse

attendant tell us to go to bay 2. It is 11:40 AM we just

finished loading the truck ready to bring the food to the

distribution site. We received 1300 Lbs of food

products for distribution, fron the United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA). The truck was full,

and I even had to place some cereal boxes inside the

truck cabin. On our way to the distribution site I had to

stop on a red traffic light. While I waited for the green I

noticed what looked like a homeless person holding a

sign, “need food” it read. I thought perfect, let me give

him something, but then came to my mind, “everything

back there is tight up with a rope”,” it looks like is going

to rain”. Then I thought “well at least I can give him

some cereal”, but then “look, these are USDA products,

you cannot just give them away on the street, there is a

procedure.” At this point I got the green light and the

car behind me started honking, so I left.

It was 1:10 PM when I finished unloading the boxes

from the truck to the food pantry, but in my mind the

image of the homeless, apparently careless, holding his

sign was stuck in my mind. Thoughts like, “are you

going to help only those who can come to you?”; “Aren’t

these products suppose to go to the hungry and needy?”

Well, ideas came back and forth the rest of the day.

By 2:30 PM my son was by my side on the truck, we

were on our way home, and of course I told him what

had happened. He didn’t say anything. It was like my

story had a problem and solution at the same time, but

I didn’t see it, so that didn’t help. At night I was telling

my wife what happened but she interrupted me to say

“you shouldn’t be putting so much weight on the truck”,

“You are going to get a ticket one of these days”....That

didn’t help me either. Few days later I was with some

friends at Bezerra and I told them the story and how

bad I was feeling for not knowing what to do, most of

them just listened, but one told me “Luis, you need to

free yourself from that situation, stop blaming yourself;

you were doing something good already.” His words

kind of hit some right notes, but still, I wasn’t ready to

look the other way and let myself off the hook.

Few weeks passed, maybe two months and I got to see

a movie: the life of Mother Teresa. While watching it

suddenly found consolation to my action. There was

this scene where Mother Teresa was riding on a bus and

while looking through the window she saw a woman

sitting on the street that looked in really bad shape.

Mother Teresa continued to the bus station and walked

to her house and told other sisters “come help me” and

ordered another one to call an ambulance. The group of

sisters and Mother Teresa walked back to the place

where she had seen the dying woman. To her surprise

she wasn’t there anymore so she asked a man who was

sitting next and he said: She died, they just took her

away” While Mother Teresa is still shocked listening the

man’s words the siren of the ambulance announces that

is coming.

I felt relieved, because I understood that is not to jump

head first into the problems but to analize them, and

make sure that we have the tools to make a difference

in the situation. It didn’t feel right just to throw a box of

cereal and then having to deny it because I’d be

breaking the rules of the USDA contract.

Mother Teresa helped millions, still does, we can’t

pretend to have all the answers all the time, let’s just

try to follow those ahead of us. Mother Teresa gave me

hope, and I’m sure Dr. Bezerra will put many others in

my way, giving me the opportunitty to practice the

teachings of our Divine Master Jesus Christ.

By Luis Salazar

Manager

Bezerra de Menezes Food Pantry

Can you spare some change?

Dear friends of BM Food Pantry, as you know, times are

tough, many people have lost their jobs and it is taking

more than expected the bouncing back of the economy.

Many families are hurting, in BM Food Pantry, we can

only help a few hundred families, but our phone keeps

ringing; people from all faiths are coming to our doors,

asking for help.

The other day a friend told me: "When you squeeze an

orange, you get orange juice. You never get apple juice

or tomato juice." That gave me an idea, if you squeeze

people filled with love, we'll get love.......................

It is not our intention to squeeze you, but to look into

your eyes and honestly ask you:

Can you spare some change?

Any amount will help. You can mail a check or use your

credit card online. Your donation can be deducted from

your Income Tax return, since we are a non profit 501

(c) (3) organization. Visit our web site

www.spiritist.com/fp to make a donation online, safe

and easy through Paypal.

Thanks so much for your support, stop by our

distribution center and take a look to the real people

and listen real stories.

God Bless you and your family,

BM Food Pantry team

FACTSFACTSFACTSFACTS Florida Statistical Brief:

Food Insecurity Rate: 12.2%

Child Food Insecurity Rate: 20.8%

Population: 18,328,340

Poverty Rate: 12.4%

Child Poverty Rate: 18.3%

Unemployment Rate: 12.0%

• Sabia Ud. que el BM Food Pantry necesita $150 para atender 120 familias semanalmente?

• Sabia Ud. que su donación al Food Pantry impacta directamente a una familia de la comunidad y es deducible en su declaración federal de impuestos?

• Sabia Ud. que 60% de nuestros clientes son niños?

• Sabia Ud. que 98% de las familias nunca habían visitado una Casa Espirita Kardeciana?

• Sabia Ud. que 100% de las familias que nos visitan llevan además de alimentos, un material de lectura edificante espirita para su hogar?

Hearts that speak

I had been hearing about this “food pantry”

initiative, had made material contribution to it, and

had even seen it from the “outside”. I had seen

people unloading boxes of food, and packing them

into this small room for handling and eventually

distribution to the needy. But it was only after I

decided to see it from the inside that I could have a

feel for what it really is, and what it really means to

people.

That happened just a few days ago when myself

and my wife decided to get actively involved, i.e. be

in the other side of the counter where a number of

reps from poor families drop their empty

cardboard boxes to be filled in with at least some

of what they need to survive and feed their kids,

spouses, and others during the coming week.

Some come with a smile on their face, some with

tears in their eyes, and some with a hand on top of

their stomach as if they were saying: be patient just

a little longer.

These are not just words to dramatize the picture;

actually, I just realized that it will be impossible to

describe the feelings of those that come from,

sometimes, a long distance, wait silently for a

couple of hours, and then travel back home with a

box of food. What would they be thinking as they

travel back home? How would they feel as they put

some food on their tables for their kids and

relatives?

I truly don’t know the answers to the above

questions. I never felt hungry for lack of food at

home. I never had to beg for a piece of bread, a can

of beans, a box of rice, or anything. And I have

always been grateful to God for never having to

starve, or for not having any clothes to wear. But,

at my present stage in life, what I am really

thankful to God for is my sensitivity to the needs of

those whose trials in this life include a severe

deprivation of what to eat or serve to their dearest

family members. And thanks to the language of

the heart, I could experience a feeling that evening

at the “Bezerra de Menezes food pantry” that is

certainly “not of this world”. It is a superior

feeling, one of those which human language

cannot yet translate into words. However, the

eyes, the facial expression, the broken words in

their lips, the loose hand movements, and

particularly the positive vibration emanating from

the souls of those at the receiving side of the

counter tells us everything, unmistakably.

The efforts to organize the “BM food pantry” are

huge. It takes hours and hours of physical work,

and a number of volunteers that are prepared to

make time available to perform the job in

preparation for the evening of distribution.

Someone has to go get the food somewhere, as it

does not come on their own, although some are

actually delivered at the pantry. But the physical

part is just physical as it says. A number of blessed

minds have to worry about the finance and to

motivate donors to help with either money or food

on a continuous basis. What if people came to get

their cardboard boxes filled and there was not

enough food?

Well, I can’t hide my emotions any longer: the

people behind the “BM food pantry” initiative must

have something in their hearts that makes all the

difference. Suffice to say that each family

representative that comes to the pantry to get

food is treated with love and care. Many of them

not only take home a basket of food, but also a kiss

and a hug. Everything is done in a way that makes

every family enjoy the food they are receiving

without any unhealthy feelings that people in need

are bound to experience in such situations.

To finalize, I can’t stress enough what a wonderful

act of love it would be for all of those reading this

letter to make a contribution to the Bezerra de

Menezes Food Pantry, given the impact of such

initiative in people’s lives. And if you could come

and help the distribution of food, even for one

evening, I can promise you that you won’t ever be

the same person again --- this is what happened to

my wife and I.

God bless you all.

Marcia & Gilberto

Bezerra de Menezes Food Pantry is a social program

managed by the Bezerra de Menezes Kardecian Spiritist

Center in Miami Fl. BM Food Pantry was founded in

February 2009 to provide supplemental food to families

and individuals in need, in the Miami Dade Countiy

area. Our services and products are free of charge and

we rely on private donations to fund this program.

Our distribution schedule is Fridays from 6 PM to 7:30

PM and Sundays from 2 PM to 3:30 PM. It is

suggested to make an appointment to assure enough

food for all visitors. Make your appointment calling to

786.346.7709, you can also send a text message or an

email to fp@spiritist.com

6450 NW 77th Ct, Miami Florida 33166

Imagine

Imagine you don’t have what you have

Imagine you don’t know what you know

Imagine not having the life that you have

You are blank

Now bring to yourself some chronic illness

Now bring to yourself some learning disability

Now bring to yourself many people who depend on you

You are somebody else

Now imagine that you have what is yours, including

health and posessions

Now imagine yourself knowing and learning everything

you need

Now imagine many people who will eat today thanks to

you

You are a better person now

Imagine yourself sharing with strangers what took you

sweat and tears to earn

Imagine yourself sharing with strangers what you know,

your life experience

Imagine yourself sharing with strangers your thoughts

You are an Angel now

Peace be with you

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Send a check payable to: Bezerra de Menezes to

6450 NW 77th Ct Miami Fl 33166 – Ph 305.477.4148

write on the MEMO: Food Pantry

This table represents a goal of $2,000 a month to fund the

Bezerra de Menezes Food Pantry.

200 Friends sending $10/month

100 Friends sending $20/month

50 Friends sending $40/month

TAKE THE PLEDGE and become an angel for a

family in distress.

Adopt-a-family with as little as $10/month.

Our goal is to serve 200 families per week, right now we

are providing food products to 95 families per week of

more than 800 families signed up in the program.

We need your help. We need $10 or $20 from you to get

us in the way to achieve our goal.

200 families per week.

TAKE THE PLEDGE and become part of the

solution.

$10 represents 52 Lbs of food or 3 days worth of food for a

family of four.

TAKE THE PLEDGE and be part of the new world.

Help us to fill up stomachs and to touch souls by helping us

to fill with blue the squares.