Wendy M. Regisford comes from a large family from the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago, and she has lived in Brooklyn for more than two decades. Most people may be surprised that she cries often and very easily, but most of her tears are tears of joy.
“I feel a sense of joy daily because of the love and gratitude that I hold in my heart. Gratitude is an emotion that brings joy to my heart and all the blessings that God has bestowed upon me in my life that I can share with others,” she said.
She sees her dad, Henley G. Regisford Sr., as the greatest influence on her path in life because he “inspired me to be who I am today by instilling in me the values of giving, sharing, entrepreneurship, independence, and most of all, service to others. ”
She currently lives in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn, and she appreciates the diversity in culture, ethnicity, and religion the most. According to Regisford, the neighborhood consists of Jewish people, Black Americans, white Americans, Caribbean Americans, Asians, and Latinos, and it continues to be a melting pot of shared values and unity.
She adds that her aunt and older cousins knew everyone, so they would always have company. She believes that people always came to our home because of the love and warmth they received from her relatives, whom she grew up with. “I believe growing up with them laid the foundation for me to have a giving heart,” she stated.
Regisford witnessed an act of kindness growing up in Trinidad and Tobago: seeing her aunt, Euline, cook for everyone in the neighborhood because she loved to do so.
“If anyone passed the house, she would invite them in for a plate of food. I witnessed her cooking several times a day, not to sell, but to give the food. This is where I developed my joy for being in the kitchen. There were many times I had to help her in the kitchen and prepare meals. Her joy for cooking and giving are some of the acts of kindness I witnessed growing up as a young lady,” she explained.
Another act she remembered witnessing was giving to Lost Piece, an organization similar to the Salvation Army in the U.S. “EveryTuesday, we would bake bread or buy bread and just take it there to give it to the elderly people in need,” she recalled.
Regisford came to the U.S. in the early 1980s. In 1985, she received her first paycheck when she started working at a literary agency, earning $150 a week while also attending college. According to her recollection, that is when she started feeding unfortunate people by donating hot meals to food pantries, nonprofits, schools, and shelters in Brooklyn.
“I remember purchasing the ingredients, flour, the coconut, sugar, the raisins, and all the good stuff, and I started baking sweet bread (a Trinidadian spin on fruit cake). I baked approximately 15 to 20 sweetbreads, sliced them up, and put them in bags. I found the shelter called The Armory (located on Bedford and Atlantic Avenue), took the bread there, and started giving it to the men. I baked the sweet bread because it’s something that I love doing. It’s also much easier than cooking! By doing this, it became the first time I continued the tradition of doing it for every Thanksgiving Holiday,” she shared.
She continued this tradition until she eventually found women’s shelters to donate to. In addition, she started giving food to The Open House of God Church on Greene Avenue in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
“I remember Pastor Bernard and his wife would share food every Saturday. I would take it upon myself to cook trays of chicken and rice and donate them to the church. When I found out that Pastor Bernard would feed everyone in the church after service on Sundays, I started cooking more food and donating it to the church,” she said.
Regisford worked 20 years in Corporate America, having a great job that paid well. She did all this prior to establishing her own food catering company.
“Therefore, my desire to give to charities grew even larger. When I couldn’t give a food donation, I would donate my time and monetary donations to the March of Dimes, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, my son’s school, etc.,” she continued. She adds that the main reason she gives to those in need is my love for humanity.
Regisford started her own catering company, Auntie Wendy’s Food Catering Inc., in 2004 because cooking is her passion. The places she works with to donate food include the West Indian American Carnival Day Association (WIADCA), with Ms. Angela Sealy, Rhea Smith, Michelle Gibbs, Sharon Stanislaus, and other staff members, as well as The Church of Promise on Kosciuszko Street.
Additionally, every other week, her friend Lisa and the staff at her catering company pack 200 meals and take them to the Bowery in Manhattan to feed unfortunate people. She has been doing this for the past three years post-pandemic.
Regisford feels that the people in her community have benefited most from her giving because it comes from her heart.
On their reaction, she said, “The people that I’ve worked with and still work with are those near and dear to me. The organizations that I’m affiliated with are considered, to me, more like family. Therefore, by giving and sharing what I have, which are the gifts that God gave me, my talents, my ability to cook good food, and my ability to donate it to people in need, I bring joy to everyone!”
She believes her contributions to charities, schools, and churches in her community have impacted the people she works with closely because giving is contagious.
Her favorite hobbies as a child were singing and cooking. As I am older, I am wiser. I still sometimes have visions of changing the world and fulfilling every need.
Regisford wants to be remembered as someone who shows love and compassion for humans.
“I would like to leave the legacy of kindness, empathy, self-confidence, positive leadership, and, most of all, gratitude,” she stated.
She hopes that her work inspires the younger generation, saying, “I asked God to give me the ability to cook and feed others without taking a dime. That was one thing I wished to do, and I would like to do it for the rest of my life. I always look forward to finding the need in others and filling it.”
Furthermore, she feels that, as humans, we all travel through life’s journey one day at a time.
“Each one of us will have that one moment in time where our purpose is highlighted,” she continued.
This is why she has the following message of encouragement: “Let’s go out there and infect our neighbors, friends, and family with love and gratitude, spreading it all over our communities, our states, our country, and the Caribbean islands, and eventually the world will be infected with kindness.”
