It was a sunny and steamy day mid-April at the third day of our MIAbites/Food Rescue US-Miami Community Kitchen at Alter in Wynwood. Chef Jeff Maxfield and team were in the kitchen preparing over 200 fresh meals for free distribution as a no-contact drive up or walk up for furloughed, laid off or unemployed friends in the restaurant and hotel industry. Funded by personal donations, the chef team salaries were being covered along with food and packaging costs.

With hotels and restaurants closed, over 250,000 employees in Florida were suddenly placed on unemployment, encountering multiple problems with the unemployment insurance application process and not knowing when they would see their next paycheck.

A young filmmaker, Segrin Phillips, of So Gorilla Films and Media stumbled upon our Meal Distribution. He was recording the empty Wynwood for a documentary on the impact of COVID on Miami and asked if he could shoot some footage and interview me and others. WATCH “Quiet Beach” HERE

We talked at length about the problems facing Miami and the long term concerns and we told him about our first Community Kitchen at Red Rooster, where for 10 weeks, Chef Tristen Epps and his team and our Food Rescue Miami volunteers had been feeding the neighborhood 3X a week.

We shared stories about the compassion of the community in Overtown, with volunteers like urban farmers, David and Quinn from Greenhaven Projects, who teach Overtown residents about growing their own food, Lisa Merkle from Box Greens, who each week dropped off donations of her fresh hydroponic lettuce, Topo Chico who provided their sparkling mineral water to give out and the two teens who hosted an online bake sale and donated the proceeds to Food Rescue US-Miami.

The short 20 minute documentary, “Quiet Beach”, offers an honest look into Miami and the COVID impact as well as offering a glimpse into some of the inspiring people that will help restore Miami to the paradise it deserves to be. The film ends with one word, and as we navigate the current situations even since the filming, it is something that needs to be embraced by all:

Empathy

Watch here or on You Tube and please share:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld6xRgE9zHU