Food and Faith : Pastor Envisions Self-Sustaining Co-Op Bringing Bargain Groceries to Thousands

Pastor Daniel de Leon can see it now.

Hundreds of shoppers every hour, thousands every year, wheeling grocery carts full of inexpensive, high-quality food from a sparkling assembly line at Templo Calvario, his bilingual Pentecostal church in Santa Ana. In return, they promise to pay what they can and help out at the church warehouse. In time, the program would pay for itself.

It is a plan, he believes, to teach fishing, rather than give away fish, and a way of making the church truly helpful to everyone in the community, not just the needy. And perhaps, incidentally, it would be a way of expanding the 3,500-member Templo Calvario, already one of the largest Latino churches in the United States.

In fact, De Leon’s vision already has begun to materialize.

Food Plus, a sort of Christian cooperative, has been under way since February in a converted warehouse in Templo Calvario’s wood-shingled complex in a business park at the western end of Santa Ana. But De Leon expects membership to increase rapidly on Saturday with the official grand opening of the pilot program spearheaded by the Christian Broadcasting Network based in Virginia Beach, Va.

CBN’s founder, TV preacher-politician Pat Robertson, will attend the 9 a.m. ceremonies, which will be taped to be shown in July on his “700 Club” program.

Robertson called the event “a highlight” of his “strictly religious and humanitarian” four-day visit to the Southland, where he plans to meet with CBN supporters. CBN crews will also be taping three live shows of the “700 Club” and four of another CBN program, “Straight Talk,” from Long Beach on Wednesday through Friday.

“It’s a wonderful program,” Robertson said of Food Plus. “That is a very exciting part of our operation.”

Food Plus is one of a handful of Orange County food cooperatives that buy food in bulk and generally require recipients to pay a small amount for food and to donate their service. There are also two large food banks in Orange County, in Orange and Santa Ana, which distribute surplus food through more than 200 local agencies to an estimated 120,000 county residents.

At Food Plus, groceries are purchased wholesale by George Haddad, a member of the Costa Mesa-based Full Gospel Businessmen’s Assn. They are packaged into “units” of four bags each, offering a balanced selection of meat, produce, grain and dairy products.

Members pay $15, if they can, for a “unit” that would cost about $35 retail, De Leon said. They may purchase an unlimited number of units, which are picked up from an assembly-line conveyor belt in the spotless red-and-white warehouse. Food distribution is now being held every other Saturday, but that may be increased to weekly in September, De Leon said.

Although intended to help the needy maintain their self-esteem while making ends meet, the program is open to anyone, needy or not, De Leon said. “The church is accused of taking people’s money, bringing them in and making them a holy Joe,” he said, adding, “The church needs to be a blessing to everyone.”

To become a member of what is essentially a food co-op, people must register at one of eight participating evangelical churches, including Templo Calvario. They are: the Anaheim Christian Center (Centro Cristiano de Anaheim); Nueva Jerusalem in Garden Grove; Open Door (La Puerta Abierta) in Costa Mesa; Hyde Park Church of God in Los Angeles; Upper Room in Westminster; Templo Emanuel in Santa Ana, and Iglesia Nueva Vida in Santa Ana.

Information about the program is available by calling (714) 836-9379.

People are asked to pay a $15 annual membership fee, and prepay $15 for the packed unit of groceries. They receive a voucher for each unit, which can be redeemed on regularly scheduled shopping days at the warehouse.

Shoppers are asked to fill out a membership application, and their names are entered into a computer, then they receive a membership card. No one is turned away, De Leon said.

Everyone must pay something, but those who cannot afford $15 may qualify for a subsidy, financed by a scholarship fund established by LaDoris McClaney of Los Angeles.

All are asked to volunteer at least one hour of work at the warehouse, De Leon said.

Seed money for the program has been contributed by CBN; World Vision, an international Christian relief agency based in Monrovia; and the Food Industry Crusade Against Hunger, a fund-raising program of several grocery chains. But the program is expected to become self-sufficient with 3,000 regular members, De Leon said. So far, 1,000--including himself--have signed up, mostly from Templo Calvario, he said.

About half have returned to volunteer, De Leon said.

“We have not really pushed that hard because the numbers have not required it,” he said. “But we’ve already shifted gears. Now, when people come in to pay and pick up the food, the volunteer coordinator says, ‘We have a schedule here. When are you going to help?’ ”

One reason CBN selected Templo Calvario for its pilot project is that the growing church had the necessary 10,000 square feet of warehouse space and equipment, Robertson said.

Templo Calvario, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, has grown from a membership of 100 to 3,500 in the 12 years since De Leon became pastor. The church has 40 branches, mostly in Mexico, he said.

The church is in a 60,000-square-foot complex at 2617 W. 5th St., a few blocks from some of Santa Ana’s poorest neighborhoods.

Community involvement has been a keystone of the church and is one reason it has attracted members, De Leon said. Most members of the local congregation are second- and third-generation Mexican-Americans, and about 60% are bilingual. While many earn the minimum wage, few are on welfare, he said.

But some are also needy, Spanish-speaking immigrants who are attracted to whichever church is there to help them, said De Leon, a graduate of Southern California College, an Assemblies of God school in Costa Mesa, and Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim.

A Catholic family, for example, joined Templo Calvario after participating in the food distribution program, De Leon said. He said he has no doubts the program will attract more members.

Catholic authorities have accused Protestant evangelicals of proselytizing Latinos, who are predominantly Catholic, but according to De Leon: “They are pretty much coming on their own.”

De Leon said he is discussing with CBN the possibility of adding Spanish-to-English “literacy packs” to Food Plus. An additional program would help adults obtain high school equivalency certificates.

Unlike other food programs that come to an end with the money available for them, Food Plus aims to become a self-sustaining “renewable feeding project,” Robertson said.

FOOD PROGRAMS IN ORANGE COUNTY

Food Banks

They distribute donated food to community food programs run by soup kitchens, churches, etc. They include:

Food Distribution Center. Affiliated with St. Vincent de Paul Society and located in Orange, it distributes about 500,000 pounds of surplus supermarket food each month through 223 local agencies to 120,000 people.

Community Development Council in Santa Ana. Serves about 11,000 people a month.

Food Co-Op Programs

Members or participants pay reduced price for food bags, usually in return for some sort of community service requirement. They include:

Food Plus. Affiliated with Assemblies of God churches, participants pay $15 annual membership, plus $15 for food packages, and are asked to volunteer at least one hour working at program’s warehouse at Templo Calvario in Santa Ana. About 1,000 members.

Share. A nationwide program based in San Diego with an outlet in Tustin, it distributes 150 food packages a month, serving about 600 people. Participants pay $12 for each package and are asked to contribute two or more hours of community service a month.

Mealdeal. Run through the Community Development Council in Santa Ana, the program distributes food bags to centers throughout the county, where they in turn are distributed to participants. People pay $6 per bag, which goes to CDC. No community service requirement. Program distributes about 100 bags a week to about 300 participants.

Deseret storehouse. Run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the warehouse in Fountain Valley fills about 3,000 orders annually, mainly for church members.