Needy Lose Free Market to Arson

The Lighthouse Community Free Market was unlike any other market in Watts.

In an area that lost 15 stores during the recent civil unrest, the market provided a place where needy residents could “shop” for food, new clothes, and other necessities--all without charge.

“We had everything you could name, and they were allowed to shop for whatever they needed,” said the Rev. Edward Bynum, pastor of the Lighthouse Church of God in Christ, which runs the market.

But an early morning fire that was deliberately set swept through the building in the 9400 block of Budlong Avenue on Tuesday, leaving many needy families and senior citizens searching for another place to find assistance.

“It’s devastating,” said Sheila Drummer, a church volunteer. “We need as much help as we can get for people in this area. It’s a great loss.”

The fire started about 1 a.m. and caused about $80,000 in damage, said Capt. Anthony Hill of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. No arrests have been made in connection with the blaze.

The fire left church volunteers and the residents they serve baffled.

“We’ve gotten calls from senior citizens who are really hurt by it,” Drummer said. “They don’t understand why somebody would do it. They thanked us for what we are doing.”

The market was part of an extensive outreach program operated by the Lighthouse Church of God in Christ. For the last 10 years the church, on 103rd Street across from the Jordan Downs Housing project, has provided free food and clothing to residents.

“Then the riot came and our load doubled and tripled,” Bynum said.

In the three square blocks that include the church and the market, 20 structures--including about 15 stores--burned during the riots, Hill said.

Those who shopped at the store were referred by social service agencies, offices of City Council members and other churches. Each family was allowed to select food and other necessities equaling a preset dollar amount.

“We get a lot of referrals from the L. A. Unified School District, said Angela Mundy, co-director of the outreach program. Some requests are for “kids who don’t have any shoes, or there’s no food in the home” because their parents workplaces were destroyed, she said.

“We were the only source in that area giving out food on an ongoing basis,” she said. “As the riots were going on, we were giving out food.”

The programs operate on donations from large market chains, food banks and the federal government, Bynum said. The church also buys some of the food and clothing.

In addition to running the market, the church regularly holds food and clothing distributions throughout South Los Angeles and Compton, providing assistance to about 60,000 people a month, Bynum said.

“Our church is black but three-quarters of the people that come are Hispanic,” Bynum said. “They come in and join service and after service is over, we give them food. Ours is the only church where everybody that comes brings a shopping cart.”

Church members were saddened by the fire but vowed to continue.

“Everything we’re doing is for God,” Bynum said. “We have no control over it. I told them something good has to come out of it some way.”