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Café of Life still seeks home

Volunteers and food abound for local agency

By LIANE SMITH (Contact)

Saturday, February 10, 2007

"We're going. We're rocking," Yadi Munoz, of Café of Life, said Wednesday morning inside Bonita Springs Community Hall to a group of volunteers all bustling around the kitchen area in preparation for the day's meal.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

Two days a week, Cafe of Life, serves food to the impoverished inside Bonita Springs Community Hall. The rest of the week, volunteers and visitors serve and eat outside Community Hall underneath the banyan tree.

Café of Life is a local nonprofit organization devoted to feeding the low-income and homeless populations in Bonita Springs each weekday. The organization helps create a meeting place where underprivileged individuals and families can connect with other local service groups such as United Way and the Salvation Army.

According to Munoz, volunteers are aplenty at Café of Life, but they are still seeking monetary donations for a home of their own. The city of Bonita Springs allows the group to serve food inside Community Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the group serves food at the banyan tree outside Community Hall.

According to the Bonita Daily News, the Bonita Springs City Council rejected a proposal 6-1, Wednesday night, that would have earmarked money on a down payment to purchase five acres on Old 41 to provide a social services campus for more than 20 social service agencies in the area, including Cafe of Life.

Currently, the group is serving between 80 and 100 people a day. The group also provides clothing and grocery items, and sometimes furniture, each day from various organizations, businesses and individuals who donate to the group.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

Seasonal residents and permanent RV travelers Charles and Susan Holland volunteer with Cafe of Life each year when they stay in Bonita Springs.

Organizations such as the Salvation Army and United Way work with Café of Life to help empower individuals and helps give them a step up on the ladder.

Charles Holland, 72, and Susan Holland, 65, teamed up with Café of Life for the first time last year. The retired couple spends several months of the year in Bonita Springs, North Carolina and New Mexico, volunteering in all places. When they first arrived to Bonita Springs last year, first thing on their checklist was to find a place to volunteer. Someone pointed them in the direction of Café of Life.

According to Susan Holland, they volunteer at their semi-permanent homes, and sight-see on their travels in between.

"We come every day," Susan Holland said. "It's just a couple hours a day. Anyone can do that who doesn't work. My husband doesn't like to sit around."

Each day, the couple brings hard-boiled eggs to serve at Café of Life — the easiest to prepare in their RV.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

Domingo Terzero picks up juice to go with his Cafe of Life meal Wednesday from volunteers Charles Holland and Joanne Herrado.

When the couple first retired, they left Metropolis, Ill., sold everything, and chartered their own 43-foot motor yacht from Kentucky to Florida. Before becoming permanent travelers by RV, the couple sold their motor yacht and bought a condo in Vero Beach for seven years. They then grew tired of the condo life and have been on the road ever since.

"We're grateful to be able to do that," Susan Holland said.

Café of Life has many seasonal volunteers, but currently the organization's top priority is raising funds for a place to call its own.

"We've got plenty of volunteers and food from places like Sweetbay and Publix, but we want our own home," Munoz said.

To learn more about Café of Life, visit its Web site, at www.cafeoflife.org or call 948-9212.