Bay Area

West Oakland Churches and Motorcycle Clubs Provide Food and Fellowship to Homeless

Published

6 years ago

November 27, 2019

Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church hosted a holiday Thanksgiving meal and giveaway on 12th street between Adeline and Magnolia in West Oakland on a bright and sunny Sunday. November 24,2019.

Dozens of church volunteers, led by Pastor Anthony Jenkins, Sr. and First Lady Valerie Jenkins, served a hot meal to hundreds of guests. Seated at 10 circular tables in the church dining hall, people from all walks of life engaged in fellowship over a full Thank s- giving meal of turkey, ham, dressing, macaroni and cheese, yams, salad and rolls.

Pastor Anthony Jenkins. Sr. with his son Cartier Jenkins. Jermaine Jenkins and daughter Alaya Jenkins serving the community with Thanksgiving dinner, clothing, and boxed groceries at their church. Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in West Oakland. Photo by Carla Thomas.

More than 300 bags of groceries filled with dry goods and items such as canned tuna, canned chicken, boxed macaroni and cheese, as well as other items were also distributed.

“We were prepared to feed thousands.” Jenkins said. “We care about the community and everyone deserves to have food, clothing, and dignity.”

Dining the holiday season it’s common for churches to distribute food. However, it was what took place at the rear of the church and in the parking lot that made this event unique.

A mobile unit provided by Lavamae Organization gave 10 people the opportunity’ to shower throughout the day. A rack packed with free clothing was available to anyone in need of a warm coat, hat or pants. Also free haircuts courtesy of Kutz Barber “Snoop” and Dilema’s Barber Shop were given to 30 people.

On the other side of West Oakland on Mandela Parkway, the street was blocked off from the Target parking lot to 34th street where a combination of churches and motorcycle clubs came together to feed the needy.

Positioned just outside a tough shed homeless encampment were eight decorated, rectangular tables and a full buffet staffed by volunteers of Oakland’s Community Chinch, Grace Baptist Church and Corinthian Church.

‘It’s important for the community to know that we care and we will begin to feed the homeless and underserved regularly.” said Pastor Lawrence VanHook of Community Church.

The Divas to Die for Motorcycle Chub, KynightRiders Motorcycle Club, and the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Clubs also participated. Some of the motorcycle chapter members traveled from as far away as Sacramento and Modesto.

KynightRiders Motorcycle Club of Oakland’s President Champagne Ellison said, ‘Without us helping collectively, these families are suffering. We spend so much time getting excited about a holiday that we can afford, but what about those who can’t? We wake up in the morning with our Christmas and shopping lists, and we forget about the ones that can’t

do that and it’s heartbreaking.

‘Tm excited to be here enjoying family and friends while feeding those in need,” said Kynight Riders Motorcycle Club member, LaToya Herron.

When a resident of the adjacent homeless encampment, Tamela Adams, finished her meal, she gathered her to-go plate for later and paused in her tracks. With tears in her eyes, she expressed her gratitude to volunteers before walking through the gates of where she has called home the past month.

“I live here with one of my three sons and have been displaced for nearly nine years,” she said of the city-sanctioned encampment behind her.

“Thank you for being here and putting us first,” she said.

“That’s what it’s all about, said Gene Gilliam, president of the Oakland Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle

Club. Gilliam, a retired veteran of 33 years in the U.S. Army says he was proud to serve his country’ but feels joy serving his community.

“We want people to be shown that they are loved and cared about,” said Gilliam. “When the Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. Army served the country beginning in 1844, they were called The Colored Troopers. From that time on, our people (Blacks/ African Americans) have always shown how much they love their country and its people. Our motorcycle club just carries that tradition on – but we don’t discriminate by color, we care about everyone regardless of color. Instead of just dropping off food, we sit, eat and talk with them (the homeless), and extend our family and brotherhood.”

“It’s always wonderful to see grassroots efforts from the goodness of their hearts, to make sure our most vulnerable residents who are unsheltered have a wonderful holiday,” said Brigitte Cook, senior constituent liaison, for Oakland District 3 Councilwoman Lynette McElhaney.

Carla Thomas

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.