Name: Klara Moss
Social Justice Group: Food insecurity in NYC (B)
Date of Fieldwork: February 14, 2025
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Advent Lutheran Church – Frankie Thompkins
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:
At Advent Lutheran Church, we led all sorts of people, many who spoke Mandarin and Spanish to the desk for their medical check-in. Guests were nervous about forgetting their IDs or not knowing if the experience was free or not. As the guests moved along to the clothing table, many were trying on coats and taking items for children. They seemed somewhat excited to get new things. One woman was looking through the gloves and mini-face moisturizers and claimed she had 12 daughters so she needed to take several more. We knew this was an extension of the truth, although we let her take additional items, also aware of the fact that we needed to save some for others. It’s unfortunate that she felt the need to lie to be able to take extras. When guests exited the church after the medical exam and clothing shopping, we handed them bags full of yogurt, bagels, granola bars, fruits, oatmeal, and an optional warm and fresh lentil soup. There were additional flyers with various languages which read about how to sign up for the upcoming food pantry that the kitchens were already preparing for. Everyone left with a fuller smile than when they entered.
The shift we had was a little slow, although it was nice to physically see how other volunteers who come often have built personal connections with guests. The church is a safe space, knowing that there are pantries and multiple ways of support through their community. It felt good to have left with the satisfying feeling of feeding meals to people who might only eat what we served that day. It was partly sad to see some of the up-close people around our city who need the help, but also eye-opening to the fact that there are so many good volunteers who dedicate so much of their time to these programs.
