RESEDA : Single Act of Charity Leads to Many More

When Cindy Anderson began packing groceries for the hungry in her home a decade ago, she thought of charity work as extra-curricular. But in quick succession, Anderson’s uncommon home-delivery food bank took over her garage, her car and her life.

Today, Anderson, 38, heads the Tree of Life Ministries in Tarzana, a nonprofit charity of Valley Vineyard Christian Fellowship, which last year moved into permanent office and warehouse space in the church basement. In recent months, Anderson’s ministry became a client of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and has expanded its delivery services to about 150 Valley families per month.

“I don’t think I ever dreamed it would be where it is now,” said Anderson. “But the needs kept continuing. It’s really my life now, it’s not a job.”

These days, Anderson spends little time in her new office. In shorts and T-shirt, she darts among shelves of cereal and granola bars, popping questions at her staff, and bustling off before they have time to answer. Most the volunteers are homemakers, and their children are everywhere. In one corner stands a donated computer, as yet unused.

“I can’t help doing everything by hand,” said Anderson apologetically, flipping through paper files. “I like it simple.”

Anderson commands a force of about 25 volunteers, who load bags of groceries in their cars three times weekly to deliver seven days’ worth to needy families. Anderson gets most clients by referral, and said the home deliveries allow her to talk to them and evaluate their needs.

Doris Bloch, executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, said the ministry’s approach is unusual but practical. “It’s hard for people to get anywhere in this huge, sprawling community,” she said.

The ministry is an outgrowth of Anderson’s own brush with poverty: Eleven years ago, her husband lost several clients unexpectedly. The couple and their three children were forced to move in with her family.

The crisis was short-lived, but Anderson vowed to help those in similar straits. Nowadays, she often helps families such as her own: middle-class people abruptly laid low by job loss or medical problems.