YOUR TOWN

Longtime Halifax Urban Ministries employee to retire

Bess Dufoe has served meals to people in need for over 25 years though Halifax Urban Ministries’ Bridge of Hope food program.

By Pam Shaffer, Halifax Urban Ministries
| 12:00 p.m. December 19, 2023

Bess Dufoe with HUM Executive Director Buck James. Courtesy photo

Ormond Beach Observer
Your Town

On Dec. 14, surrounded by a huge crowd of volunteers, Bess Dufoe, long-time kitchen manager at Halifax Urban Ministries, announced she will retire in January 2024.

Dufoe has served meals to people in need for over 25 years though Halifax Urban Ministries’ Bridge of Hope food program, according to a press release. Each day, a hot lunch has been provided to anyone who enters the doors. Dufoe garnered volunteer groups from 31 different organizations, particularly churches, to assist in the kitchen and to serve the meals everyday at lunchtime.

The volunteer force numbers over 400 people.

Dufoe plans and executes over 90,000 meals a year. During her years of service, she has, with the help of her volunteers, offered over 225,000 hot meals, produced primarily from donated food.

Many of the volunteers were present at the Annual HUM Volunteer Christmas Party as Dufoe announced that she would be “hanging up her apron” in January 2024.