The Great
Connector
The life-changing work of Epic-Cure and their Sustain U program TM
T
by Angela Moonan, photography provided by Epic-Cure & Chef Barry Honan
here’s one thing about middle school that we know for sure. It’s not an easy age. When you put that against the backdrop of a pandemic well, it’s downright daunting. But over at the Boys & Girls Club and Woodlawn Terrace Apartments in West Saint Augustine, there’s joy and learning. Middle schoolers are cooking up some fun and firing up their cooking skills along with their confidence through a program from Epic-Cure called “Sustain U.” Sunny Mulford is the Executive Director of Epic-Cure, a nonprofit organization that’s a distribution system and a driving force in the community. Feeding nearly 1,800 families across three counties weekly, families are able to put food on their table because of the work that Epic-Cure and over 1,000 volunteers are devoted to.
Wasted
Thirty to forty percent of all of the food supply in the US goes to waste each year. One in six people don’t have any food to eat. Epic-Cure is being that connector. Food that would otherwise go to waste is being rescued from as far away as Orlando to right here in the St. Augustine area. Food is rescued from retail stores, wholesale outlets, and farms. “One evening over dinner with friends in September of 2018, I was talking about my daughter who has a Master’s in Sustainability. The documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste came up. A couple of weeks later I was on an airplane to visit my daughter and that documentary was being shown. It shared the story of how much food is wasted and how many people go hungry every day.” So, serendipity stepped in. “Epic-Cure did its first food
distribution in May of 2019. That first year we rescued and distributed 350,000 pounds of food. Thanks to our invaluable partnership with the local chapter of Feeding America, today we’re rescuing and distributing 350,000 pounds of food a month!”
Access is the Key
Epic-Cure does 16 distributions each week, but only 1 out of each of their warehouses. “Some people don’t have driver’s licenses, vehicles or money for gas. They may only have a bicycle. We strive to be accessible for everyone. We have to get the food to them. So we load our trucks with tents, tables and food and take them to different areas and make sure that access happens where it’s needed most. We have a zero threshold which means if you show up, you get food. There’s no requirement to show identification, no hoops to jump through. If you’re here, we provide free groceries to you.” Success for Epic-Cure in 2022 would be growing their food distribution capabilities through their new, much larger warehouse in Palatka. Once it passes final inspection soon, it will allow them to double their food distribution to nearly 600,000 pounds a month this year. “Seventy-five percent of what we get in needs cold storage, and if you can’t store it properly, you can’t take it. You have to have massive coolers and freezers, tremendous infrastructure. We’ve built that infrastructure and are looking forward to using it to its full potential.” Their goal is not only to increase their food distribution reach to over 4,000 families across St. John’s, Putnam, and Duval counties each week… But also to other food agencies including food pantries and soup
“How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
22 LovingOurFood.com
