*This is a special feature from the City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services.

“Life is an art of balancing and accepting our timings,” said Toan Quach, Pastor of the Vietnamese Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church in San José. “All of us need help and could help someone else.” Finding a meal these days can be difficult for many people. However, at the SDA Church on South Second Street — volunteers and faith practitioners are doing their part to change the narrative behind seeking food assistance.

Since the start of the pandemic, faith-based organizations like the Vietnamese SDA Church, can be found at the forefront of food distribution efforts in San José.

Residents in need of food assistance patiently wait in a socially-distanced line at the Vietnamese SDA Church on 1066 S. 2nd St. Photo Courtesy of Pastor Toan Quach.

However, churches are sometimes limited in their capability to scale up and increase distribution networks due to logistical constraints, especially while facing a pandemic. “Our church has always supported struggling community members by providing food, clothes and other necessary items but we were doing it on our own strength, which is at a certain degree limited,” said Pastor Quach.

“When we had a chance to [work with] Loaves and Fishes, a wonderful organization working very hard to fundraise and provide prepared food for their partners, and whose heart is to serve, we were so thankful and excited,” added the pastor.

Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen not only provides the Vietnamese SDA Church with prepared meals, they also help staff distribution days with volunteers through online signups.

By combining the logistical strengths of a San José-based nonprofit with the spiritual determination of a community church, Pastor Quach and his flock are now providing 300 - 400 meals per week from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., every Monday to Friday.

A stack of tortillas and bags of cheese lay next to a box of produce before meal preparation begins. The Vietnamese SDA Church receives support from Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen to provide meals for those in need. Photo Courtesy of Pastor Toan Quach.

Over the holidays, Pastor Quach reaffirmed his beliefs in providing for the less fortunate. When other distribution sites were closed on Christmas Day— the Vietnamese SDA Church remained open.

“There is a time for everything and there is a season for everything under the sun,” said Pastor Quach during an email exchange on Monday. “Here at the SDA site, we don’t ask for any papers or identification. We mean what we say: all are welcome, no strings attached.”

Finding a meal in the City of San José is made possible because of partnerships between nonprofits, community organizations, and civic leaders committed to serving those in need.

In the span of nearly a year, residents economically impacted by COVID-19 have turned to drive-thru meal pickups and church parking lots to put food on the table.

Yet, it is the willingness of community members working together that inspires volunteers to come out.

And for a bilingual church on South Second Street— it's the collective humanity towards solving food insecurity that provides hope for a better tomorrow.

Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen works with a network of community and faith-based organizations to provide meals and volunteers. Sign up to volunteer by visiting Loaves & Fishes online.

“We treat those who come with deepest respect. Our volunteers always smile as big as they can,” said Pastor Quach. “Please don’t hesitate to come. You will not be disappointed.”

Organizations like the Vietnamese SDA Church are in need of volunteers and donations. Visit loavesfishes.org/communityvolunteer to learn how you can start volunteering today.

To find out how you can access food resources in your neighborhood, please visit bit.ly/SCCFoodMap. You can also visit siliconvalleystrong.org, call 2-1-1, a 24-hour multilingual service or text your zip code to "898211".

ESSENTIAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The New Year has just begun and we need your help! Volunteer in your community and share this with a friend, too!

Even with the new “Stay-At-Home” orders, Volunteers have been deemed “essential” by the State of California to help aid in packaging, distributing, and/or delivering meals at food banks and other public food security programs as part of the state’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

Each nonprofit organization will be able to provide information about their COVID-19 compliance policies and procedures. #SiliconValleyStrong

Sign up for a volunteer opportunity by submitting an application to volunteer at SV Strong: https://siliconvalleystrong.org/volunteer/

#SVStrongHeroes