VERO BEACH – In many ways, Vero Beach is a study in hidden contrasts; with affluent residents shielded from view in sprawling multi-million dollar homes, while the disadvantaged hide from sight in wooded areas, families huddled together in tiny pup tents. Fortunately, Vero Beach is also home to many people who raised themselves from poverty to prosperity through hard work and determination and have never forgotten their humble roots.
“My husband grew up very poor and never forgot it,” said Orchid Island resident Cindy Scherpf of her husband, Joe Scherpf.
Since relocating from Wilton, Conn., in May 2000 the couple has epitomized the oft cited stewardship components of time, talent and treasure, regularly going the extra mile both financially and through the development of programs to feed minds and hungry bellies.
Both are avid tennis players, playing frequently every week, but these days you’re just as likely to find Cindy stocking shelves at the Treasure Coast Food Bank’s Indian River County Food Pantry, which operates out of donated space at the First Baptist Church.
Or you may see Joe driving back and forth between the Food Pantry and John’s Island, where he regularly picks up donated bread.
Their initial involvement locally was with the Homeless Family Center, where Cindy started off tutoring children while their parents worked or attended school.
“That was a huge outreach of ours; we helped a lot of families get back on their feet,” she says.
One of their first success stories was helping a single mother buy a car. That boost enabled the woman to obtain a job a Target, where she is still employed 10 years later.
“That’s what the Homeless Family Center is all about. The goal is to get them working so they can find their own place. HFC helps them find apartments also; they’re very resourceful. I was there about three or four years and worked closely with case managers, but it became really overwhelming.”
Switching her focus, she began a second grade mentor program in three Sebastian elementary schools.
“That’s a great age. I still have those kids in my life. Three of them just Facebooked me and asked me to become friends with them. They’re now in 8th grade and that’s a tricky age. I think it’s nice that they reached out.”
As her little students would gather around her table at the school, she encouraged each to relate what they had done as acts of kindness.
“Jody Bennett, [then] principal of Pelican Island Elementary School, asked Cindy to address the whole class at their elementary school graduation and speak to them about acts of kindness,” Joe Scherpf says with pride.
Cindy considers Jody Bennett to be a true leader in the community.
“I really think she sets an incredible example. She’s now the executive director of core curriculum for the school district.”
As a result of her work with the schools, Cindy was asked to join the Rotary Club of Orchid Island, whose foundation focuses its support on local children’s programs.
“When I joined they had accumulated a lot of money to disperse,” she says.
She approached her three schools, Treasure Coast Elementary, Pelican Island Elementary and Liberty Magnet, and asked them to put together a wish-list of needs.
At the top of the list for Treasure Coast Elementary was what she eventually developed into the Back Pack Buddies program.
While children in the district’s food assistance program were being fed at school during the week, they were going hungry over the weekend.
Teachers, led by school nutritionist Susan Brenton, were donating and packing food for about 20 children to take home Fridays, but there were many more in need.
“Before I even brought it to the rotary, I told my husband about it. He came up with the idea of the two of us giving them $10,000, and it grew from there.”
The Rotary Club enthusiastically adopted the program as did friends, who continue to donate every year.
Things really took off after they partnered with the Treasure Coast Food Bank and received one of the two first Impact 100 grants. As a result of that $102,500 grant, the program quickly expanded to 520 children.
“That money lasted about two school years, but hunger doesn’t go away,” says Cindy. “This school year we ran into a problem because there weren’t enough funds. Instead of doing a back pack program we set up food pantries in some of the larger schools; it’s really working.”
“They changed the focus a little from food for the child to food for the families,” say Joe. “It’s a lot less costly because we buy food in bulk instead of little packages, and it helps the whole family instead of just one child.”
Paraphrasing Fareed Zakaria, Time Magazine editor, Joe notes, “When children go hungry they can’t learn. When they don’t learn they don’t make it into the professional ranks. We can feed them now and have them become productive citizens or we cannot feed them now and 20 years from now they’ll be unproductive citizens, which will cost taxpayers more money.”
Their Rotary Club next adopted the Treasure Coast Food Bank’s Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry program, a refrigerated food truck which allows the distribution of food to people with limited access to grocery stores.
Each $500 Mobile Pantry sponsorship feeds upward of 100 families for one week.
“It’s a real bargain,” says Joe, explaining that Wal-Mart and Publix donate the food for recipients chosen by area non-profit organizations. “We’ve sponsored as individuals, and I’ve mentioned it to other organizations. I told Father Murphy at Holy Cross and they decided to sponsor two; Our Lady Guadalupe chose 100 families and the Boys and Girls Club chose 100 families.”
“It’s really great; our first was with Gifford Youth Activity Center,” says Cindy. “There were some families who couldn’t leave their homes, so my husband and some friends packed up the bags of groceries and delivered them to their homes in Gifford.”
Two years ago, Tom Mackie, then board president of the Treasure Coast Food Bank, told Cindy about the Food Pantry in Indian River County which provides emergency food assistance five days per week.
“Joe and I went down and fell in love with the concept,” says Cindy. “When I first started, we were serving about 30 families a day. That was two years ago and we’ve seen the numbers escalate. Two Tuesdays ago, we served 55 families. These are typically new families. A lot of them are living in the woods and a lot of them are the working poor. You can see them coming in scrubs or in landscaping uniforms; people who have jobs, but have to decide between paying their rent and putting food on the table.”
She tells of a young couple who have been living in the woods for two months with their 4-year-old child.
Both lost their jobs several months ago and have nowhere to live.
“This girl could have been any one of our daughters,” says Cindy. “That’s just a typical story out there. There’s like 220 people living in the woods right now. I think about these people every morning and every night. It’s very hard for me to come back to my gated community after seeing what I see every day. I go to sleep in my cushy bed and I think about that 4-year-old sleeping in a tent with her parents.”
