海角大神

Glenda Andrew pulls a tray of salmon from the oven, filling the community center鈥檚 kitchen with the aroma of garlic, cayenne, and lemon rising聽from its crackling skin.

It is the scent of memory, of family dinners, and church socials 鈥� the warmth of the Caribbean in the middle of a gray English winter made gloomier by COVID-19.

This is food for the soul, Ms. Andrew says, and it鈥檚 needed now more than ever by Britain鈥檚 older immigrants who have been isolated from friends and family聽by the pandemic. Once a week she joins other volunteers to prepare hot meals with the zing of the islands, which they distribute for free to聽people in Preston and surrounding communities in northwestern England. The area has recorded some of the United Kingdom鈥檚 highest coronavirus infection rates.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great way to connect and build that relationship, but I didn鈥檛 know that at the time,鈥� Ms. Andrew said of the project鈥檚 beginnings. 鈥淚 just knew that聽I wanted to do something and make sure that they were getting a hot meal 鈥� not sandwiches, not soup 鈥� getting something that they鈥檙e accustomed to eating聽and hope that they would enjoy it.鈥�

Once a week, for the past 42 weeks, the fortunate seniors on Ms. Andrew鈥檚 list have been treated to delicacies such as jerk pork, curry goat, and cow foot soup聽accompanied by rice and peas, yams, and plantains. Portions are hefty, so there鈥檚 enough to go in the freezer for another day. Last week, some 400 meals聽were packed into yellow foam packages and delivered by volunteers.

The meal program grew out of Ms. Andrew鈥檚 work with Preston Windrush Generation and Descendants, a group organized to fight for the rights of early immigrants聽from the Caribbean and other former British colonies who found themselves threatened with deportation in recent years.

The Windrush Generation, named after the ship that carried the first migrants from the Caribbean in 1948, came to Britain in response to a government call聽for workers from throughout the Empire to help rebuild the country after World War II.

The Windrush Scandal rocked Britain in 2018 amid a crackdown on illegal immigration. Long-term legal residents lost jobs, homes, and the right to free medical聽care because many arrived as children and couldn鈥檛 produce paperwork proving their right to live in the U.K. Some were detained, and an unknown number聽were deported to countries they barely remembered.

When the coronavirus pandemic struck Britain, the free-spirited Ms. Andrew didn鈥檛 want the community to be victimized again. She decided to create her own聽food program tailored to the taste buds of the people she grew up with.

Nothing is too good for Ms. Andrew鈥檚 people. They get the best. No tiny pilchard fish here.

鈥淪almon is a delicacy, isn鈥檛 it? You know what I mean? They鈥檙e worth it,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hey brought us up, they鈥檝e taught us so many things. They gave up聽their life in the Caribbean to come here.鈥欌��

In addition to food, the volunteers offer a bit of human contact.

The loneliness and isolation of the past year is painful for many of the seniors. When deliveries arrive, they seek out friendly gossip with the volunteers聽about what their neighbors are up to.

Sylius Toussaint, who came from Dominica in 1960, said chatting with volunteers like Dave Williams helps as much as the food.

鈥淭hey say hello and give you a meal, and maybe for just a few seconds at least you see someone new; someone you haven鈥檛 seen all week,鈥欌�� Mr. Toussaint said聽as his wife, Bridget, shot him a bemused look. 鈥淚f you are on your own, it is so nice to see a fresh face 鈥� especially bringing gifts.鈥�

Ms. Andrew wants to keep the meals flowing, even as optimism grows that Britain鈥檚 mass vaccination program may soon allow lockdown restrictions to be eased.

The project runs on donations and the energy of Ms. Andrew, who seemed to be in a dozen places at once as she marshaled her volunteer chefs last week. For聽now, they use a donated kitchen in a community center, but there鈥檚 a glimmer of hope for a more permanent venue at some point 鈥� maybe a place the community聽can gather.

But that鈥檚 in the future. For now, the volunteers plan to just keep going, gluing the community together with plates of rice and peas.

鈥淚nitially it was the food and, as I said, I didn鈥檛 know what we were creating,鈥� Ms. Andrew said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 been amazing.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

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