‘Deeply compassionate’ Fort Worth woman shepherds food pantry into a community hub
In east Fort Worth, the community around St. Luke’s in the Meadow Episcopal Church has found a devoted advocate and kindhearted leader in Patti Callahan.
The church is in a food desert along Meadowbrook Drive, and for three years it has serviced a growing number of people through the 4Saints Episcopal Food Pantry, an endeavor that Callahan has spearheaded selflessly, friends said.
“It’s an act of love, and we’re all part of taking care of each other,” Callahan said.
The pantry was not Callahan’s idea, but she took on the responsibility of shepherding the concept into reality. A previous priest thought unused church space could benefit the surrounding community as a food bank, so Callahan studied the need. She helped establish the pantry as a nonprofit, worked with the Tarrant Area Food Bank and remodeled the church’s unused space.
When pantry organizers found there was more interest than the church could sustain on its own, Callahan was among members who approached three other Episcopal churches, St. Alban’s in Arlington, St. Martin in the Fields in Keller and St. Stephen’s Episcopal in Hurst. The pantry started serving about a dozen families and grew to regularly serving between 70 and 80 families.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has increased that demand, pushing the number to roughly 100. In the second week of the shutdown, more than 160 families came for help, Callahan said.
Many of these people have never needed help before, she said. Some had lost their jobs due to COVID-19, while others were looking to feed their children when schools shut down. The pantry started with a focus on east Fort Worth neighborhoods, but new visitors have come from Weatherford, Hurst and Plano.
“We’re seeing people from all over,” Callahan said.
In the past, the pantry operated like a grocery store, where those wanting food could pick items from a shelf in a space that’s roughly the size of a large two-car garage. Now folks drive by in a line and have preselected items placed in their cars.
The change has been a struggle for some who look forward to the social interaction, Callahan said, but it has also been a challenge for the pantry. Some items have been harder to come by, forcing Callahan to get creative. Last week, for instance, roughly 180 gallons of milk didn’t come in. A generous volunteer donated enough milk for about 40, but other families would receive juice.
She hopes the pantry can take part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families program, which connects farms to food pantries. Callahan has also turned to church members to spot and purchase needed items during their own grocery trips.
“Someone always comes through,” she said.
Callahan hasn’t officially taken the helm of the pantry, though she’s filled in when volunteer directors are unable to. Before the coronavirus outbreak, Callahan started a side project called Cooking Matters, focused on teaching parents and their children how to cook a simple meal. The pantry would then provide the ingredients to cook at home.
“She’s the heart of the place,” said Rhonda Grundy, another volunteer.
Grundy nominated Callahan to be highlighted as part of the Star-Telegram’s Hometown Heroes series because of her work with the 4Saints Episcopal Food Pantry and her deep compassion for others. Callahan has been at the church or the pantry every week since it started, Grundy surmised, and attributed the food operation’s success to her friend.
Hometown Heroes is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, which is providing $1,000 each to the 28 people selected by the Star-Telegram to be featured in the weekly series.
Callahan shied away from talking about herself in great detail on a recent morning when she stepped away from repackaging eggs at the pantry to talk by phone.
She grew up in a home built on compassion for others, she said, as her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse. She recalled going along with her mother, who helped start a Meals on Wheels program in Alvarado, on food deliveries as a child and said she may have picked up on giving through food then.
When she retired from interior decorating a decade ago, she wondered what she could do to give back. She thought of her mother, she said.
“I find food to be a real common ground for people,” Callahan said.
The Rev. Karen Calafat has worked “arm in arm” with Callahan since Calafat was called to St. Luke’s about six years ago. Calafat described Callahan as “deeply compassionate.”
The church yard features a meadow where customers of the pantry would sit before the outbreak. It was common to see Callahan in the meadow, visiting with people and catching up on their lives. Callahan’s presence and willingness to chat with anyone helped build a strong sense of neighborhood around the food pantry that has continued despite social distancing, Calafat said.
“Now that COVID has happened, in the drive-through I’ll have people say, ‘Hey, have you seen Miss Charlotte today? Well, tell her I said hello,’” she said. “Patti was really instrumental in building that environment where the community could really be the community.”
Carolyn Brannen, who has known Callahan for about 15 years, agreed with Calafat that the pantry’s popularity and sense of place were due in large part to Callahan, whom she called a “master at talking to people.” Sometimes people who use the pantry may feel down, but Callahan is able to lift their spirits, Brannen said.
“She’s just one of those people that can turn a situation that might not be such a good one around,” she said.
To nominate someone to be featured in the Hometown Heroes series, go to star-telegram.com/nominate.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
