St Paul’s Cathedral in Nicosia celebrates a milestone this week, when volunteers at its foodbank hand out the 1500thparcel since covid.
The foodbank was the brainchild of parishioner David Duffield, after he and many others supported Cathedral Dean Jeremy Crocker and assistant curate Justin Arnott in twice-weekly food deliveries to hundreds of people during covid, when most agencies had closed down. The programme is now overseen by parishioner Margaret Charalambides.
“We have 34 families registered with us, which includes many children, as well as some single people,” says Margaret. “We’d like to help more but our resources are limited and unfortunately, we have a waiting list. We’re in discussion with the Cyprus Volunteer Association, in the hope that they may be able to channel their surplus supplies to us.”
The foodbank supports refugees and asylum-seekers who have spent up to three months in a camp outside Nicosia. Initially, most of those collecting parcels were single men, who found accommodation in the Old City within walking distance of the cathedral. Over time, however, the demographic of those in need has shifted to families, who often live in the suburbs and make their way to St Paul’s by bus. The provisions they take away with them include staples such as rice, pasta, cooking oil and canned vegetables, as well as a snack-pack—sustenance for those on the go, often on foot, seeking work.
Many of those who come to the parish hall to collect a food parcel on the first Thursday of the month also drop in on the first Monday for a hot evening meal provided by members of the congregation—a programme started some nine years ago by Dean Jeremy and Fr Kent Middleton, then an assistant curate at St Paul’s, and now overseen by St Paul’s secretary Helen Klostris.
“The food is prepared by four women in the St Paul’s congregation—on site or brought in from their homes,” says Helen. “Before covid, it was a sit-down meal. During covid deliveries were made to those living near the cathedral. But with the change in demographics, we now pack meals making it easier to take home to families.”
Both monthly events are staffed by volunteers from within the congregation, as well as from the wider parish community. And the generous giving often comes full circle, says Margaret, recalling two particularly moving examples.
“A woman who is steadily rebuilding her life, now setting up a small business in another town, was so determined to repay the kindness shown to her at a critical time, that she prepared 60 of the most delicious stuffed pancakes—and paid for them to be brought all the way to Nicosia. On another occasion, an Iranian couple marked Eid by sending two wonderful, enormous rice dishes.”
Zero-food-waste Saturdays are another popular means of offering support to the needy. Volunteers collect unsold fruit and vegetables from the municipal market at closing, distributing them to the 100 or so people that gather in the cathedral grounds.
