On Monday, Nov. 14, the Loyola Care-A-Van, sponsored by the Center for Values and Service was temporarily suspended by the Baltimore City Health Department for a failure to have a license for food distribution and a lack of hot and cold water.
The new regulations concerning food distribution went into effect on Nov. 1; however the Health Department failed to notify the College so that they could comply. The new law states that anyone distributing food must have a license as well as running cold and hot water so that they and the people they are serving can wash their hands. CVS was not aware any new regulations had been made.
The Care-A-Van program, which has been in existence since 1991, feeds approximately 75 of Baltimore's poor and homeless each week. Every Monday and Tuesday, between seven and twelve student volunteers make sandwiches and drinks here at the College and then distribute them under the Jones Fall Expressway, near City Hall.
On the evening of Monday, Nov. 14, the volunteers were at their usual spot on the corner of Gay Street and Saratoga Street when a city health official told them he had received a complaint about them, and they needed to stop.
"The man told us we would have to stop because we didn't have any running water. He said that this was a warning and that if we came down again, or he was called down again we would be fined," said junior Gretchen Bell, who volunteers with the program regularly.
The city health official showed the students a sheet with the new regulations outlined on it but then took it back.
"It was pretty unprofessional I thought," said senior Tracy Sanna, who has been volunteering with the program for all of her four years at Loyola. "He didn't have any identifying clothes, or anything that we could take with us about the new rules."
According to Sanna, there was still a van full of sandwiches and a line full of people that they were not permitted to finish serving. Instead, they had to place the food on the sidewalk to be retrieved by those who wanted it.
The sandwiches are prepared by students wearing sanitary gloves, wrapped and they remain in wrappings until they are given out. Because of the manner in which the food is prepared and the fact that it is given for free, many volunteers are left questioning the validity of the suspension.
"We made the argument [to the city health official] what would happen if we go into 7-11, buy a sandwich and then give it to someone, how is that any different?" said Bell.
"We just want to ensure anyone eating anything, whether it's a hotdog from a street vender or a sandwich given out for free is eating at same level of safety as if you were eating in a restaurant," said Melissa Lindamood, a senior advisor at the Baltimore City Health Department.
Although the Health Department has said this is an attack on food borne illnesses, some members of the Care-A-Van believe there may be ulterior motives.
Ashley Biggs, student coordinator of the program, stated that they were not incredibly shocked about this because they had been asked to move from their distribution spot before. The spot at which they distribute the food is by City Hall, and some are concerned that this is more of an aesthetic issue rather than an issue of sanitation.
"Now that they've fixed up City Hall they don't want these people there, exposing the poverty in the area," said Sanna.
According to Mary Ann Cappelleri, an assistant director of CVS, the Health Department did apologize to the College for not informing them of the law changes properly, and are currently helping the program take the necessary steps to receive a license.
"We're highly embarrassed. It was completely our fault," said Lindamood on the Health Department's failure to notify the College. "We want to help them to find a new location to continue their work. That is our number one priority right now."
"We hope to have a license and be running again by the beginning of next semester," said Biggs.
Although Care-A-Van has officially suspended the program until it can comply with the law, student volunteers have taken the initiative to continue the program on their own.
This group of dedicated students is continuing the program with personal funding and has gone to a different location to continue performing this service to the community.
"There is a base of people down there who expect that they will have at least those two meals a week. We don't want to lose that base of people between now and when we get that license, we don't want to lose them," said Bell.
"I think that this program offers people an opportunity for consistency, and direct contact...sometimes just a person to talk to...The best conversations I've had in college, the most intellectual have happened in Care-A-Van," said Sanna.
The students who have continued the program on their own intend to do so until CVS receives a license to sponsor the program again. Anyone wishing to help out or donate to the cause may contact Sanna at tasanna1@loyola.edu.
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