Volunteers Convert Tavern Into Food Store for Needy

It was a run-down beer joint with bullet holes in the black walls, a place where Westminster police answered too many disturbance calls and the owners were losing money.

Finally, it closed and remained vacant for more than six months.

Three months ago, a group of volunteers who help the poor and homeless in Orange County converted the small, dilapidated building at 7261 Westminster Blvd. into a cut-rate food store.

The volunteers put in a new floor, patched bullet holes and painted the walls white. Now, six days a week, the volunteers at Food Bargains dispense bulging bags of groceries for $15 to $25.

Fight Hunger

They buy their supplies from a warehouse that sells to them at cost, enabling the volunteers to resell at about half the supermarket prices.

“This is to give people who are having a hard time providing for their families a place to shop. It’s our way of trying to fight hunger in Orange County,” said Jim Miller of Huntington Beach, who has devoted most of the last three years to helping the poor in Orange County.

Miller, a part-time accountant, is the unpaid executive director of the Shelter for the Homeless, which operates two family homes in Westminster and Midway City.

Lived in Camper Truck

He used to collect food and make almost daily trips to parks around central Orange County, giving it to the homeless.

“But the more I thought about it, the more I felt that there was a better way to feed the needy,” Miller said. “That’s why we came upon the idea of selling food cheap to the poor.”

As his first unpaid employee, Miller called on Paul Wood to manage Food Bargains. Wood, 46, his wife and six children were living in a camper truck in a Garden Grove park when Miller met him several months ago. The Wood family lived that way for a year before they found housing.

“I know what it is not to have much, so I know we’re doing a good thing here,” said Wood, who is responsible for buying the food.

The volunteers buy only “sale items” at the warehouse and must sell about two dozen bags of groceries a day to cover the $1,300 monthly rent and other costs. No one gets paid. Wood supports his family with Social Security disability checks.

The store offers six grocery packages. For $15, a customer can buy chicken, hot dogs, peanut butter, canned and boxed foods, plus three or four bags of fresh fruit and vegetables. The retail price of the items is between $30 and $35, Miller said.

Wide Assortment

For $25, a customer can have four sirloin steaks, a couple pounds of ground beef, hot dogs and a wider assortment of canned goods, fruits and vegetables.

Food that the store may collect free is added to the package at no cost. On a typical day, the customer may get three pounds of margarine, bread and vitamins free. The store also takes food stamps.

To encourage sales, Miller is selling food coupons to businesses to donate to needy families.

“The whole point is to try and feed the hungry in Orange County. There are many people out there who go to bed hungry at night,” he said.

16% at Poverty Level

A recent study commissioned by the United Way of Orange County concluded that 360,000 people--16% of the county’s population -- are considered at or below the poverty level. More than 50,000 of them earn less than $200 a month.

In addition, there are about 5,000 homeless in the county and fewer than 500 beds provided by volunteer organizations. Most of the homeless subsist on meals dispensed by volunteer groups.

Mary Sullivan, volunteer bookkeeper for Food Bargains, retired from the restaurant business more than two years ago. Sullivan, 67, met Miller through her church. At his urging, she decided to escape the boredom of retirement by volunteering to help the needy. She now works there full time.

“I just never realized how bad it was with the poor and the homeless . . . not until I started doing this volunteer work. There are a lot of people hurting out there,” she said.

For May Strong, a widow living on a small fixed income, being able to buy at Food Bargains helps her with the costs of raising a 13-year-old nephew.

On a recent afternoon, Strong drove up in a battered 15-year-old sedan. She purchased two of the $15 bags of groceries, marveling at how much she was getting for her money.

“This will last us 10 days. I couldn’t do that anywhere else. I know I’ll be back,” she said.

For elderly people who cannot afford transportation, Miller will deliver bags of groceries to their homes.

“I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of people in need and we’ll do whatever we can to help them,” he said.