Comstock's magazine 0118 - January 2018 | Página 41

through the kitchen is essential, some bringing
their own recipes and ingredients.
Mark Hawkins, who has worked at Friend-
ship Park’s information center for years, was
once a guest himself.
“When you’re living homeless, you make
sure you get down to Loaves & Fishes every day,
because at least you’ll be able to eat,” Hawkins
says. “When you don’t have a door to close be-
hind you at night, it’s the only thing that’s steady
and secure.”
Burton runs his kitchen without the ben-
efit of traditional purveyors, though there is a
budget for bulk staples. Mostly he’s confined
Edwin Burton (center), chef at Loaves & Fishes, takes a break from the 500-600
to using what’s on hand in the L&F warehouse,
meals he cooks a day for area homeless individuals in the L&F dining room.
comestibles donated by the Sacramento Food
Bank & Family Services, the Department of Ag-
riculture Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Freeport
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Ed,” one volunteer re-
Bakery, the Golden 1 Center via its Second That Program, marks. Another says, “He puts love into his food, that’s his
area farms, a few caterers and the public.
gift.”
“Ed touches more lives on a daily basis than anyone else
Working in the kitchen one November morning were
here,” says Noel Kammermann, L&F’s new executive direc- longtime friends and fellow St. Robert Catholic Church pa-
tor. He runs L&F with a staff of 80 and a $6 million budget, rishioners Richard DeCuir and Ray Turner. DeCuir, a former
relying mostly on private donations and grants. “We don’t Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy, has volunteered since
take any government money,” he says.
L&F opened. Turner, a retired banker, has shown up regularly
Kammermann, 38, arrived in Sacramento July 1 from for 18 years.
Stamford, Conn., and moved into his cluttered office two
“Ed’s easy to get along with,” DeCuir says. “I’ve never seen
weeks later. He left his job as the chief program officer of In- him get angry.”
spirica, an organization specializing in “moving people from
“Ed is never overdemanding,” Turner says. “The way he in-
homeless to home.”
teracts with people is amazing.”
“I want to end homelessness in Sacramento,” he says, un-
When Burton is asked to explain the repeated accolades,
daunted by the results of a recent survey that puts the number he responds with his typical modesty: “I guess because I treat
of homeless in Sacramento County at an estimated 3,665, a 30 everybody the way I want to be treated,” he says. “With re-
percent increase over 2015 and a record high. Because many spect.”
homeless people regularly wander from city to city, skewing
any census that’s taken at any given time, Kammermann esti-
✤✤✤
mates the figure is closer to 5,000.
“Ed doesn’t like the spotlight, but makes an incredible im-
Burton grew up in Detroit as one of 10 children. As a
pact every single day,” Kammermann says.
child, he was sent by his mother to the Salvation Army to
Burton’s immediate boss, dining room director Tasha Mur- check on her two alcoholic brothers “to make sure they
dock, came to L&F from Volunteers of America 12 years ago.
were OK,” Burton recalls. “Later, one of them froze to death
“Some people eat out of garbage cans and find leftovers in outside. My second oldest brother also died from being an
bags on the ground,” she says. “I want to feed them something alcoholic.”
nutritious and filling.”
He began his cooking career more than 30 years ago,
Burton and Murdock plan the menus weeks in advance after following his sister and other family members who
and seem to have an ideal relationship. “I do the office work migrated to the Bay Area from Detroit.
upstairs, Ed does the cooking downstairs. We complement
Though he had no cooking experience, he landed a job
each other,” Murdock says.
at a TGI Fridays (his “school,” Burton says), followed by gigs
Over three visits to Burton’s kitchen, the comments from at Red Lobster, Holiday Inn, Bennigan’s, Red Robin and the
staff and volunteers begin to echo each other.
La Salle Café in Old Sacramento. He worked as a prep cook
January 2018 | comstocksmag.com
41