A Coral Gables pastor locks herself in her church tower during MLK weekend. Here’s why.
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, the senior pastor at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ, Laurinda Hafner, will climb “lots and lots of stairs,” up nearly 50 feet, and lock herself up in her church’s tower.
Hafner will stay in self-imposed confinement until a food drive held at ground level — that’s the church’s annual hunger vigil — collects five tons, or 10,000 pounds, of donated food, a goal usually reached by early evening.
For Hafner, heading up the church tower is a now 14-year-old tradition meant to “call attention to our understanding that faith calls on us to feed the hungry.” Throughout Miami-Dade County, 9.5 percent of all residents and more than 19 percent of children are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from, a 2019 report by Feeding South Florida says.
“Hunger is a major problem in our region,” Hafner said.
Hafner fasts while she is up in the tower, a time she uses to reflect and work on her Sunday sermon. Surrounded by windows overlooking the city, the pastor said confinement comes with a panoramic view.
“I look out and see the lushness of Coral Gables and the beauty of Miami. I see the skyline and the Biltmore Hotel that is right across the street. So you have this view of what seems like luxury and beauty and all the good things,” said Hafner. “But I’m also up there reminded of how many people feel alone and separated from the community because they are struggling.”
Some of the donations gathered at the hunger vigil are distributed to the Miami Rescue Mission, which provided nearly one million meals to hungry adults, children and families in 2019. The rest are kept for the church’s own food pantry, one of the only remaining pantries in Coral Gables, Hafner said.
“I think folks have this image of Coral Gables not needing such a thing, but every single day that we are open here as a church there [are people] who come needing food for their family, and a lot of people live in this area who are just one paycheck away from hunger,” Hafner said. “All they need is a car accident or a back that goes out and they just don’t have the resources to feed their family.”
The faster the five-ton donation goal is met, the faster Hafner gets to come down from the tower. “It was getting a bit late last year,” she said with a laugh. “I was afraid I was going to end up spending the night with the bats.”
During the first few hunger vigils, a ceremony would be held when she rejoined her congregation down below. On occasion, for show, the fire department would help her down. Some of the buzz has worn off with the years. “Now it’s just my husband and my dog waiting to greet me at the bottom,” Hafner said.
Donors to the hunger vigil should prioritize canned goods (“the heavier the better for me,” noted Hafner). Monetary contributions are also welcome, with $1 equaling one pound of food.
As Hafner explained, it’s no coincidence the hunger vigil is held during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. “Dr. King called us to our better selves and always said that anyone can do anything to help others,” she said. “This is the perfect weekend for us to be mindful of his call to action.”
