Free Market Victory : Redlands Contractor and Watts Congregation Join to Reopen Food Center Destroyed by Arson

The arson fire that destroyed the Lighthouse Community Free Market in June left neighbors angry, hurt and with one less reason for hope.

The Watts neighborhood had already lost 15 stores during the recent civil unrest and the church-run market--which gave free groceries to the needy--was one of the few remaining sources of food.

But in the midst of the destruction, the Rev. Edward Bynum assured his congregation that something good would come of it all--and Wednesday, exactly three months later, something did.

With local politicians and hundreds of neighbors watching, the Lighthouse Community Free Market reopened, this time in a new building donated by a contractor from Redlands.

“This goes beyond my prayers really,” Bynum said. “. . . I think it’s the greatest thing in the world. If people would just take it upon themselves this is the way things could be done.”

The new community market was the result of a friendship between members of a small storefront church at 103rd and Grape streets in Watts and a successful contractor from San Bernardino County.

For more than 10 years, the Lighthouse Church of God in Christ has operated an extensive outreach program in Watts and other areas of the city. The efforts of the church--particularly its programs to feed the hungry--caught the attention of Redlands resident Mark Buster and soon Buster was a regular at the church.

“The first time I came here there were people lined up around the block for food,” said Buster, who is a minister and a general contractor. “I’d never seen anything like it.”

So when the church needed a new storage area to hold more food, Buster enlisted the help of his father, who is also a contractor. He persuaded his father--who had never been to Watts--to visit the little church.

William Buster was so moved by what he saw that when the market was gutted by vandals he agreed not only to build a storage facility but to build a market as well--at no cost to the church.

“It was God,” Mark Buster said. “It was a total miracle.”

For William Buster, it was simply a matter of seeing and believing.

“I think at first I didn’t realize what was really here, what the need really was,” the elder Buster said. “I came down here and found out what was really happening. The people here are the most dedicated I’ve ever seen. God had been good to me. I think it’s time I do some things.”

More than 400 people, some pushing shopping carts, others carrying boxes or dragging milk crates to be filled with food, stood in the searing heat Wednesday waiting for the store to open.

Floyd Phillips, 68, arrived at the church at 3 a.m. and was one of the first in line.

“This church says outreach and that’s exactly what they mean,” Phillips said, pushing a cart of groceries. “It’s simply beautiful.”

Elodina Villarreal, who stood in line with African-Americans and Latinos from her neighborhood, said whatever tensions may exist between the two groups were not apparent at the church.

“There’s no difference,” Villarreal said. “The church is helping us. Race has nothing to do with it.”

At the market, families who are referred by social service agencies and schools shop for food, new clothes and other necessities just as they would in any other store, except there is no charge. The goods are donated by large market chains, food banks and the federal government.

After the market was destroyed by vandals June 23, the church continued to distribute food after its Sunday service and at parks and other sites throughout the city. And since the riots, the need in the community has grown.

“We’ve been getting more people,” said Bynum’s wife, Karen. “People lost their businesses, their jobs. They need it even more so.”

But the market had been a particular source of pride. It was the first of its kind, Bynum said, and church members are glad to have it back.

In a dedication service Wednesday attended by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, Assemblywoman Teresa P. Hughes (D-Los Angeles) and other officials, the church and the Busters were praised for their efforts to help the community.

“This is what it’s all about,” Hughes said. “This is wonderful for our community.”