Brother Benno's Center in Oceanside was named after Brother Benno Garrity who was a Benedictine monk and the chief baker at the Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside. His specialty was bread and he would regularly drive through poor neighborhoods in his rickety old truck and hand out loaves of bread to anyone who needed it.
Co-Founder Harold Kutler was one of the businessmen who succumbed to Brother Benno's Irish charm. Kutler owned a vitamin business in Oceanside, and one day in 1979, Brother Benno brought him a loaf of bread and left with a supply of vitamins. “This was the beginning of a weekly ritual that I looked forward to with great joy,” Kutler said, “Brother Benno was the personification of one of God's happy monks serving the poor.”
In 1983 when Harold and his wife Kay decided to open a soup kitchen, they thought immediately of Brother Benno and received his blessing to name their ministry after him.
Brother Benno's started by meeting the most basic needs of their guests as a soup kitchen, but soon became synonymous with feeding the hungry. When Brother Benno's moved to the present facility in 1991, the basic services had been expanded to provide a general helping hand to those in need.
Because of the way Brother Benno's started many years ago, it is still usually identified as a soup kitchen. According to Gini Craig, the facility's director of community relations, people are surprised when they come to the center for the first time. “Their usual comment is that they thought we just fed people,” she said. “Over the years we have added many services to address the long-term issues of poverty and homelessness.”
The center still provides hot meals and sack lunches six days a week, plus monthly food packs to low-income families, seniors over 60, and the disabled. Craig adds that the center's services have expanded to help uplift the dignity of its guests by providing hot showers and hygiene items, haircuts, clothing, laundry facilities, rent and utility assistance, prescription assistance, bus passes, and aid to veterans.
Services also include residential houses for men and women's recovery programs, for homeless women with or without children, and Servants of the Poor lay ministers.
“To try to stop the cycle of homelessness, we offer a reading program for children and scholarships to assist low-income students to attend college,” she said. “We try to treat the whole person, love them, and help them become self-sufficient again.”
Founder Harold Kutler is still actively involved as president and director of the organization. He says that the center's philosophy is modeled after Mother Theresa. “She said that the need to feel human and worthwhile far exceeds the physical need for food and shelter,” Kutler said. “Every decision we've made along the way has been influenced by our belief that we must first uphold the dignity of those we serve, regardless of their condition, and then address their other needs.”
The Brother Benno Foundation's mission is simple: To serve God's poor. “We are all about love, and about building bridges instead of walls,” Kutler said. “We practice unconditional love, knowing that tough love can only be applied after demonstrating to those who are down-and-out that they have value and someone cares.”
The people who come to Brother Benno's predominantly hear about it by word of mouth — both on the street and through other organizations. The center is also listed under the 211 hotline for emergency services.
Since its inception, the center has served more than 2,748,576 meals, provided 183,503 nights of lodging, 734,705 articles of clothing, 132,832 showers, 8,908 haircuts, 134,186 bus passes, 25,035 loads of laundry, 93,656 food packs, 25,985 blankets, 5,039 prescriptions, and 748,356 hugs. These figures are from December 2008 and according to Craig do not include the past 15 months, which have been particularly hard on so many people who never thought they'd need help.
The high cost of living in Southern California and the recent recession have taken their toll on many in the community, and some people are just a payday away from being homeless. “The tight economy and high unemployment rate have brought people to us that never thought they would use our services,” Kutler said. “They used to stand on the giving side of the counter but now they're on the receiving side. There will always be a need for a safety net and a means of uplifting someone during a crisis, whether it's with goods, services, or with a hug.”
There are many worthy shelters and help organizations in Southern California. What sets Brother Benno's apart is its reputation for financial efficiency, earned mostly because of its reliance on a stalwart, faithful volunteer force.
The center's administrative costs are covered by proceeds from the Thrift Store in Oceanside. So all donations are used directly for those the Brother Benno's Center serves.
According to Kutler, they couldn't do it without their volunteers. “Volunteers are the heart and soul of Brother Benno's, because everyone from the board president to the person chopping vegetables in the kitchen is a volunteer,” he said. “The director of Brother Benno's gets paid $1 per year. Without volunteers, Brother Benno's would cease to exist. They know that every job they do has a direct effect on helping the poor in their community.”
Success, to Kutler and the Brother Benno's community, is not measured in terms of budgets or balance sheets. Kutler summed it up thus: “Mother Theresa said, 'God doesn't call me to be successful. He calls me to be faithful. Even helping one person is a success'.”
Another measure of success is reflected in the stories about those who have been helped and later return to visit or volunteer themselves. One of Kutler's favorite anecdotes concerns a young man who struggled through recovery programs three times before finding sobriety. After becoming a successful electrician, he returned to Brother Benno's to start an alumni group to support other program graduates. This is just one of many stories of how caring sparked hope for the future.
As a volunteer-powered organization, Brother Benno's gratefully accepts help from the community. Donations of time, funds and goods such as clothing and furniture are always welcome.
Community support of the center's Thrift Store at 3965 Mission Avenue in Oceanside is the most immediate way people can help Brother Benno's mission. Volunteers are needed in all areas of the Brother Benno's operation, from helping out in the office or warehouse to tutoring children in reading.
“The economic downturn has caused us to tighten our belts just as it has other non-profits,” Craig said. “But we still want to do things better, to find more means of funding our services, expand our community education programs, and bring in volunteers from all age groups and walks of life.”
Brother Benno's Center is at 3260 Production Ave., Oceanside, 92058. For more information, visit www.brotherbenno.org.
Co-Founder Harold Kutler was one of the businessmen who succumbed to Brother Benno's Irish charm. Kutler owned a vitamin business in Oceanside, and one day in 1979, Brother Benno brought him a loaf of bread and left with a supply of vitamins. “This was the beginning of a weekly ritual that I looked forward to with great joy,” Kutler said, “Brother Benno was the personification of one of God's happy monks serving the poor.”
In 1983 when Harold and his wife Kay decided to open a soup kitchen, they thought immediately of Brother Benno and received his blessing to name their ministry after him.
Brother Benno's started by meeting the most basic needs of their guests as a soup kitchen, but soon became synonymous with feeding the hungry. When Brother Benno's moved to the present facility in 1991, the basic services had been expanded to provide a general helping hand to those in need.
Because of the way Brother Benno's started many years ago, it is still usually identified as a soup kitchen. According to Gini Craig, the facility's director of community relations, people are surprised when they come to the center for the first time. “Their usual comment is that they thought we just fed people,” she said. “Over the years we have added many services to address the long-term issues of poverty and homelessness.”
The center still provides hot meals and sack lunches six days a week, plus monthly food packs to low-income families, seniors over 60, and the disabled. Craig adds that the center's services have expanded to help uplift the dignity of its guests by providing hot showers and hygiene items, haircuts, clothing, laundry facilities, rent and utility assistance, prescription assistance, bus passes, and aid to veterans.
Services also include residential houses for men and women's recovery programs, for homeless women with or without children, and Servants of the Poor lay ministers.
“To try to stop the cycle of homelessness, we offer a reading program for children and scholarships to assist low-income students to attend college,” she said. “We try to treat the whole person, love them, and help them become self-sufficient again.”
Founder Harold Kutler is still actively involved as president and director of the organization. He says that the center's philosophy is modeled after Mother Theresa. “She said that the need to feel human and worthwhile far exceeds the physical need for food and shelter,” Kutler said. “Every decision we've made along the way has been influenced by our belief that we must first uphold the dignity of those we serve, regardless of their condition, and then address their other needs.”
The Brother Benno Foundation's mission is simple: To serve God's poor. “We are all about love, and about building bridges instead of walls,” Kutler said. “We practice unconditional love, knowing that tough love can only be applied after demonstrating to those who are down-and-out that they have value and someone cares.”
The people who come to Brother Benno's predominantly hear about it by word of mouth — both on the street and through other organizations. The center is also listed under the 211 hotline for emergency services.
Since its inception, the center has served more than 2,748,576 meals, provided 183,503 nights of lodging, 734,705 articles of clothing, 132,832 showers, 8,908 haircuts, 134,186 bus passes, 25,035 loads of laundry, 93,656 food packs, 25,985 blankets, 5,039 prescriptions, and 748,356 hugs. These figures are from December 2008 and according to Craig do not include the past 15 months, which have been particularly hard on so many people who never thought they'd need help.
The high cost of living in Southern California and the recent recession have taken their toll on many in the community, and some people are just a payday away from being homeless. “The tight economy and high unemployment rate have brought people to us that never thought they would use our services,” Kutler said. “They used to stand on the giving side of the counter but now they're on the receiving side. There will always be a need for a safety net and a means of uplifting someone during a crisis, whether it's with goods, services, or with a hug.”
There are many worthy shelters and help organizations in Southern California. What sets Brother Benno's apart is its reputation for financial efficiency, earned mostly because of its reliance on a stalwart, faithful volunteer force.
The center's administrative costs are covered by proceeds from the Thrift Store in Oceanside. So all donations are used directly for those the Brother Benno's Center serves.
According to Kutler, they couldn't do it without their volunteers. “Volunteers are the heart and soul of Brother Benno's, because everyone from the board president to the person chopping vegetables in the kitchen is a volunteer,” he said. “The director of Brother Benno's gets paid $1 per year. Without volunteers, Brother Benno's would cease to exist. They know that every job they do has a direct effect on helping the poor in their community.”
Success, to Kutler and the Brother Benno's community, is not measured in terms of budgets or balance sheets. Kutler summed it up thus: “Mother Theresa said, 'God doesn't call me to be successful. He calls me to be faithful. Even helping one person is a success'.”
Another measure of success is reflected in the stories about those who have been helped and later return to visit or volunteer themselves. One of Kutler's favorite anecdotes concerns a young man who struggled through recovery programs three times before finding sobriety. After becoming a successful electrician, he returned to Brother Benno's to start an alumni group to support other program graduates. This is just one of many stories of how caring sparked hope for the future.
As a volunteer-powered organization, Brother Benno's gratefully accepts help from the community. Donations of time, funds and goods such as clothing and furniture are always welcome.
Community support of the center's Thrift Store at 3965 Mission Avenue in Oceanside is the most immediate way people can help Brother Benno's mission. Volunteers are needed in all areas of the Brother Benno's operation, from helping out in the office or warehouse to tutoring children in reading.
“The economic downturn has caused us to tighten our belts just as it has other non-profits,” Craig said. “But we still want to do things better, to find more means of funding our services, expand our community education programs, and bring in volunteers from all age groups and walks of life.”
Brother Benno's Center is at 3260 Production Ave., Oceanside, 92058. For more information, visit www.brotherbenno.org.