Kathleen Bean, an 88 year-old resident of Ocoee, whose vivacity and energy belies her years, arrives at the Christian Service Center’s kitchen at 7:30 AM every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to start cooking 200 meals.
For the past 20 years, six days every week and two Sundays out of four, Our Daily Bread offers a free hot, nutritious lunch for hungry people, no questions asked. Volunteers cook and provide meals at the Christian Service Center’s modest building on Franklin Street in Ocoee. They prepare the meals in the kitchen, serve them into containers, and every day at 11:30 a multi-cultural line of West Orange residents comes in to eat. Our Daily Bread also boxes up meals for shut-ins and others who can’t make it to the Center on a particular day.
“We have a lot of regulars,” says Anne Wilding, the Center’s first employee in Ocoee, and the head of Our Daily Bread. “There are always a few new faces every day.” Wilding said that the community’s need has grown in the past few years. She said, “When I started we fed between 100 and 150 people, but last week we made 289 meals in one day.” The Center also offers emergency services, clothes and other aid to needy families.
Our Daily Bread relies upon donations of food from local groceries such as Publix and Sweet Bay, and food service operations like Health Central Hospitals for the materials. Almost all of the cooks, servers and cleaners are volunteers donating their time. Many local churches take responsibility for providing volunteers on specific days of the month. That’s in addition to volunteers like Kathleen.
“Miss Kathleen is a genius at putting things together,” said volunteer Lynne Parsilla of Windermere. “She makes sure we have enough no matter how many people come in.”
Kathleen Bean grew up in Orange County when towns were small and orange groves were everywhere. She and a friend visited the Christian Service Center 17 years ago to go to their thrift store. Kathleen saw Our Daily Bread in action, offered to help, and has been there ever since.
Kathleen leads an active life, volunteering at Daily Bread, going to church, and visiting friends and family. “I have 3 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and a one year-old great-great-grandchild,” Kathleen says. “The Lord has blessed me and I know it.” She enjoys her time at Our Daily Bread and will continue to volunteer as long as she’s able. She says, “I enjoy seeing people get the food they need.”
For more information about Our Daily Bread and the other work of the Christian Service Center, go to www.christianservicecenter.org or call 407-425-2523.
