By Patrick Walsh • Posted August 1, 2024

There are many moments in the life of our food pantry community at Martha’s Choice Marketplace when you can feel God’s grace palpably. There are so many amazing people — messy as we all are — that make it easy to see God in those moments.

As much as the life of our community can be so rich in opportunities to feel and participate in the boundless love of Christ, one particular friend has had an outsized impact on our hearts. I share the story of our friendship because it has taught us all so much and continues to bring out the best in us all.

Our friend, we’ll call him the Chef, started coming to the pantry’s food distribution a couple of years ago. Because of some significant injuries, he found it hard to remember things as he used to. He found it hard to keep a job as a chef as he used to.

His hard times had led him to a season of life where his living situation was often insecure, going back and forth from living outside, to having a room. What he did have was a big heart, a warm smile, and a sturdy bike.

Starting a few years ago, he would pull up on that bike any given day. Because of his injuries, he struggled to keep track of the days and the pantry openings.  Even though the past years have been very busy at the food pantry, our team of staff and volunteers developed a rhythm of receiving him warmly, with patience and most especially joy.

Every time he’d pull up, someone would holler out, greeting him by name, and usually following up with any number of inside jokes thrown back and forth. As we learned to love the Chef, his interruption somehow morphed into a welcome interruption — the dropping in of a dear friend.

At some point we went from tempering our frustration of being interrupted to welcoming the opportunity to greet our friend and hook him up with some good food, as much as he could fit in a bag on his handlebars.

As we built trust with one another, we’d share our stories, our passions, and even some cooking tips. He’s given me a recipe for chocolate mousse for which I’ve been sworn to secrecy. Over time, he’s even shared his struggles with us. We do our best to honor his trust and we’re always there to listen and to help if needed.

Often he’ll pull up right after our morning “huddle,” which in the flurry of a busy week can be a stressful moment. I wonder if his arrivals aren’t sometimes providential, because “taking care” of the Chef is grounding.

He helps us remember why we do what we do. If you find yourself wound too tight on a given morning or a little too consumed with yourself, putting a bag of food together for him and exchanging zingers will quickly bring you back to yourself.  In that way, he “takes care” of us too.

One day our pantry manager, Brahm, was helping the Chef check his SNAP balance, because he didn’t have a phone. I was so grateful that Brahm was doing this for him because it was a big help. But it also showed that we had reached a place of real trust. Brahm was doing that because he cared about the Chef as a human being not because it was part of his job.

I was even more grateful that we were becoming a place that the Chef felt like he belonged. He knew there were people who wouldn’t just tolerate him but were excited to see him, eager to help, and now shared a culture: stories, jokes, and hopes, together.

The Chef is first my friend, but I believe that God sent him to us also to show us the goodness inside ourselves. Some people have a blessing to bring out the best in others. The Chef has it.

Martha’s Choice Marketplace runs a massive drive-through food distribution. Even though we have a relational service model, it’s always hard to ground ourselves in the reality that love can only exist person to person. It’s impossible to “love” a group of people. Love can only happen person to person. And we love the Chef. I think he loves us too. That is nothing but the pure gift of God.

He is still in need of housing, and he is still tending a garden somewhere in the area. He tells me the veggies are doing well. I hope one day to see it and learn how to make my own tomatoes thrive better.

But I also hope to see him in a safe home. If anyone knows of a place like that, please reach out to me. However long it takes for him to find a home, and from there on out, we will be there for him, and he will be there for us.

And that is a real community.

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Patrick Walsh is the Director of Programs at Catholic Social Services’ Martha’s Choice Marketplace & Community Farm. Patrick has been building community through access to healthy food since 2015. When he’s not at Martha’s, you can find him around the campfire or in the garden with his four lovely children and amazing wife.