Good News! Teens making a 'change' through grocery handouts

Teens stage revolution

By Amy Hamilton
Friday, March 26, 2010

“Hi, how are you? We have some food for you,” said Sonja Alvarez-Barker of Clifton, passing along bags of food to a new neighbor who answered her front door.

“We have food in the park every Sunday. We have ravioli,” Alvarez-Barker continued to the teenage girl who looked surprised at first. Then the girl’s face softened.

“Ohh, ravioli,” she exclaimed, and called out thank-yous as Alvarez-Barker and a small group of teens moved on to the next door.

Neighbors in the heart of Clifton used to peer suspiciously upon opening their doors, wondering about the cadre of young, smiling strangers who appeared each Sunday on their doorsteps bearing bags of food. But after seven months, the effort by a group of Central High School students, organized by the Canyon View Vineyard Church, is forging friendships in a community of folks accustomed to keeping to themselves.

“It’s amazing how a simple bag of groceries can change somebody’s life,” Central High School senior Alyssa Workman said, a sack of food in each hand, off to knock on another door. “At first people were scared; now they welcome us into their homes.”

The student group, called The Revolution, is doing more than filling tummies. Students are learning about the realities of not having enough, while making inroads with people they might not otherwise meet.

Besides, if not for the Sunday distributions, what else would students be doing?

“Homework and TV,” junior Nikki Keeling said. “It’s cool what people can do when everything comes together. It makes a difference.”

Many in the area dense with duplexes and apartment homes around 32 Road know that Kimwood Park at 2 p.m. Sundays is the place to get a hot meal. It’s also where neighbors catch up with one another. Some say those simple connections are helping to reduce crime in an area where drug deals used to be common in the daytime and parents kept their children from playing in the park.

“People are stopping, waving, talking,” said Alvarez-Barker, a neighbor who is now a church member and helps distribute food. “I’m not the only one watching out for our kids. There’s still crime, but it’s in smaller amounts.”

Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)