There is no excuse for anyone in our country to be hungry.
“Thanks for dropping by this afternoon. We’re going to open the pantry in just a few minutes. Please bear with us while I get this shelf stocked.” It was only 1:00 and the place was already crowded. What’re we going to do when there’s a freezing rain, I thought.
“Okay. Come on in. We’re ready.”
I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT WHEN THEY FIRST OPENED PANTRIES AND SOUP KITCHENS. I’ve read that the idea was to offer emergency food.
Ever since the ’80s, volunteers at food pantries and soup kitchens have been working to feed people so they won’t be hungry for the coming few days. What was once considered to be a crisis is now a way of life for many people unable to extricate themselves from poverty and destitution. It’s also a way of life for the many volunteers working at soup kitchens and pantries throughout our country.
HUNGER IN AMERICA IS A SHAMEFUL SITUATION FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. There is no excuse for anyone in our country to be hungry.
A fairly common complaint I hear is: “We shouldn’t be feeding these people. This is not solving the problem. There shouldn’t even be pantries.”
I submit to you that we’re facing 2 separate problems. When a person shops at a pantry for a 3-day supply of food, an effort is being made to rescue this person and his/her household from the grip of food insecurity.
OFFERING FOOD IN A PANTRY KEEPS THE PERSON/HOUSEHOLD FROM GOING HUNGRY FOR THE FOLLOWING 3 DAYS. THAT’S 9 MEALS. THAT’S ALL.
Food pantries do not address poverty and destitution in our country. Food pantries cannot address the urgent and ongoing need for:
shelter
job training
job referral
daycare
clothing
transportation
medical attention
adequate wages.
Many people shopping at pantries can get themselves out of the ongoing rut of poverty with help. There’s a huge difference between feeding people a 3-day-supply of food weekly and lifting them out of poverty.
Food pantries are stop-gap measures used to keep hungry people from starving until our leaders in Washington reach viable solutions to the problems created by poverty.
Food pantries assist poor and destitute people use their minimum wage funds to get back and forth to work.
FOOD PANTRIES MAKE SURE OUR POOR AND DESTITUTE SENIOR CITIZENS WILL HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT SO THEY WON’T BE A BURDEN TO THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.
Food pantry volunteers are on the front lines of the war against food insecurity. Our concern is making sure there is enough food in our pantry to feed the people coming for help every week. It’s all about food security.
Getting people out of poverty is not an issue for pantry workers at all. We cannot even begin to address this issue at the food pantry level.
As food providers, our situation is labor-intensive, unpredictable, and filled with crisis management situations. We routinely deal with boxes weighing over 40 pounds each, loading docks, and parking lot accidents.
Politicians continually work to remove the safety net offered by SNAP cards, unemployment payments, health care.
One program which doesn’t get as much attention is the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is billed as a program designed to reward the low wage worker. In reality, this subsidizes the employer, who can then pay lower wages without causing the worker so much pain that s/he can no longer afford to work. This program benefits many large corporations. It is a great tool for all big box employers.
Until there is a secure community safety net for the poor and destitute in our country, we will continue to feed a 3-day-supply of food weekly to families/households who don’t make enough $$$ to buy food after they pay for rent and transportation. Their minimum wage paychecks simply don’t last a week.
Every time I serve a 3-day-supply of food to a working person, I am reminded that in our country working people no longer have any value to their corporate employers. They are nothing more than commodities to be exploited.
THE EVER INCREASING NUMBERS OF POOR AND HOMELESS LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT WITHOUT FOOD PANTRIES, MANY PEOPLE WILL STARVE.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
