Retired surgeon J.B. Smithson loaded food into the trunks of cars. He volunteers every week.
“My mother used to take food, and it gives me something to do in retirement,” Smithson said. “It’s special giving back, right?”
On Sept. 7, Community Crossroads, mission outreach center, hosted a drive-through food pantry, where volunteers served more than 125 families, said Dori Al-Hammami, the organization’s director. The outreach center feeds about 1,100 families every month.
Community Crossroads grows its own produce in its garden. The outreach center picked a fresh harvest on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Community Crossroads offered dental services on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Diapers sit on shelves on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Dori Al-Hammami shows baby formula on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Volunteers sort boxes of food inside the pantry on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A volunteer helps someone pick out clothes on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Volunteer J.B. Smithson loads a box of food into a car on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Volunteer Jeff Garner helps a family sign up for the food pantry on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Volunteer J.B. Smithson loads food into a trunk on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. Smithson is a retired surgeon. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Director of Community Crossroads Dori Al-Hammami looks for a pair of glasses for a neighbor on Sept. 7 at the Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
Community Crossroads, which is funded by the First Presbyterian of Fort Worth, offers services including worship nights, dentistry and food pantries and gives away clothing, produce, baby formula and diapers.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the outreach center hosts a food pantry.
“We don’t have clients. We have neighbors. We serve our neighbors, so that’s part of serving with dignity,” Al-Hammami said. “We don’t call people by their circumstances. We call them our neighbors because that’s what they are.”
Grace Camacho, a Fort Worth resident, received a free pair of prescription eyeglasses during the Sept. 7 event. Camacho had cataract surgery in early September and will have surgery on her left eye soon.
Camacho was one of 50 neighbors to receive free eyeglasses from nonprofit Better Vision Better Hope, which had a table at the summer 2022 Connect in July event at Community Crossroads Outreach Center, 1516 Hemphill St. Over 30 vendors were represented at the July 19 event.
The Connect event is one of hundreds of events a year hosted by the outreach center.
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by email or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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