Politicians – the Season Begins Again!
The political season begins again. In Woodstock, the politicians come calling. They knock on the door – their smiles open, their outfits perfect.
And, they don’t want to hear any questions – not from me, anyway.
I answer the door and listen to their message. I’m waiting to pounce, really. Because, I know they don’t know anything about hunger in our area.
And, I do know about hunger in our area.
The minute I open my mouth, they start to run for it.
Well, not so fast politician. Not so fast. You can’t leave my front door without taking a copy of one of my books with you.
I really know more about the economics of this area than they know. I know about children who go to school hungry. I know about families who routinely choose between food and transportation, food and housing, food and healthcare.
The politicians know their dance is up for today. Because I know about homelessness. I know the difference between shelter and housing.
Woodstock is a community where people working here come from somewhere else.
Each year, I figure that some kind of message will go out and no politicians will knock on my door. I’m wrong every year.
So, I sit – waiting to pounce.
Lord, I apologize. I simply can’t help myself. Someday, I’m going to apologize and know its the last time because I won’t act this way next time. I’d be lying to you now, Lord, if I even pretended that I won’t do it again.
I love pouncing on these people who knock on the door. I love to tell everyone how hard it is for the elderly to get food when their shoulders and knees don’t work anymore. I love to talk about friends I have who don’t drive anymore and who live in a food desert.
Lord, as seniors, we routinely pay more, get less, and do without. The without part comes because we’re outliving our savings.
I feel like everyone needs to know these things. How are the politicians going to know about them if I don’t tell them? I’ve convinced myself that its part of my job as a food pantry volunteer.
Food pantries are mostly hidden services. People shopping at one certainly don’t tell anyone where they get their groceries. And, the volunteers don’t talk either.
In the beginning, I was bothered about this but I’ve come to realize that food pantries are places where miracles happen. And, miracles are much easier if no one knows about them.
Lord, on behalf of everyone who shops or volunteers at a food pantry, I offer gratitude for the many miracles You perform on our pantry day.
And, Lord, thanks for sending these politicians over to my house every voting season. I love to pounce and then send them away with my books.
Thank you again Lord. I offer gratitude on behalf of everyone who shops or volunteers at a food pantry.
Amen
Thanks for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, check out some of the older articles. Hunger is not a Disease is an fascinating story about hunger in a small town food pantry. This blog has been relating stories and events for ten years!
I’m amazed when I read this. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would be writing about hunger and homelessness for over 10 years. And yet, here I am, plugging away!
What a journey this blog has been – and continues to be.
What was I thinking?
Please share this article with your friends and family. Forward it to your preferred social media network and post it on Facebook even.
Check out my books on www.thurmangreco.com. The website is being repaired so contact me at thurmangro@gmail.com to purchase one or more of the books.
Let’s Live with Thurman Greco is a program aired weekly on Woodstock’s own educational TV channel 23. This show is an informative, upbeat hour with no rehearsals. Some segments support the blog information and highlight Reiki Therapy, Hand and Food Reflexology, and other wellness subjects.
Guests are various people whose lives have brought them to Woodstock for a day, a week, an hour, a decade, or more. I can truthfully boast that guests report they enjoy the experience.
Let’s Live has been running for over 15 years with an occasional intermission now and then.
Enjoy interesting and fun programs while getting a peek into Woodstockers being themselves. Search “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco” on YOUTUBE and check out the ever growing list of videos.
Please contact me at thurmangreco@gmail with comments or questions.
A Prayer to the Most Powerful Woman in the World
Somehow, when I’m in a food pantry, I feel the presence of Mother Mary. She greets us and invites us to know her better. She is also ready to sit with us on our spiritual and physical journeys.
People go to Mary with issues related to children and with healing of all kinds. They go to Mary for forgiveness, compassion, and mercy. That puts her square in the middle of the food pantry line.
Mary has no doctrine. Nor does she have a dogma. Mary’s story shows us she knows intimately about hunger, suffering, sorrow, and death.
Mary’s prayers count.
Mary waits for us to reach out to her. Mary has been waiting for us long before we became aware of her.
Mary accepts us, whatever our beliefs. She doesn’t care whether we follow an established religion or even no religion. She accepts us as we come to her. Mary belongs to all faiths, all religions, all paths, and all people.
She protects, heals, and guides us all. She is there with us in the pantry line. She offers comfort in troubled times. Mary teaches that we all have value.
Sensing her presence, I feel she is showing us how to turn our pain into life lessons to help us cope with and enjoy life.
If we listen, Mary protects us when danger lies ahead.
I write these things because I somehow know that they are real. I know this to my bones. I’m not sure how this knowing came about. And, truthfully, I quit asking HOW a long time ago.
Working in a food pantry brought up questions that were dormant throughout my life. I pondered, worried, and searched for answers for years. I’ve finally decided that there are some things I don’t have the answers for yet.
And, so what. Do I have to know the answers to everything? After all, I’m only human. And, an old human at that.
All I can do is say “thank you” to Mary for being here for us.
Thank you Mary for holding me up in the food pantry when the numbers were too high and getting higher every week.
Thank you for being there with us all in that line.
Amen.
Thanks for reading this article. I am not here to challenge or change your beliefs about feeding the hungry or about any other thing, as far as that goes. I am not here to change your story. Instead, I am here as a conduit for your own healing.
Please share this article with friends and relatives. Forward this post to your preferred social media network.
Check out my books on www.thurmangreco.com. The website is being repaired. To purchase a book or 2, please contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
Let’s Live with Thurman Greco is a program aired weekly on Woodstock’s own educational TV channel 23. This show is an informative, upbeat hour with no rehearsals. Some segments support the blog information and highlight Reiki Therapy, Hand and Food Reflexology, and other wellness subjets.
Guests are various people whose lives have brought them to Woodstock for a day, a week, an hour, a decade or more. I can truthfully boast that guests report they enjoy the experience.
Let’s Live has been running for over 15 years with an occasional intermission, now and then.
Enjoy interesting and fun programs while getting a peek into Woodstockers being themselves. Search “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco” on YouTube and check out the ever growing list of videos.
Finally: THIS BLOG IS CELEBRATING ITS 10TH YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the Brave and Diligent Shopper
Lord, this prayer is for the brave and diligent shopper. She walks in. And she never misses a week.
Lord, she is ferociously focused on getting to the pantry.
Looking neither left or right, dismissing the rain, or the cold, or the boiling heat, she makes her way each week through the crowded parking lot.
I pray for her grace, energy, and willpower. I pray that someone or maybe several someones can witness and celebrate her discipline and focus.
And, I pray that others will notice her voyage each and every week. I don’t want to be the only one who sees her gracefully make her way through the crowded shoppers waiting outside the pantry for it to open.
Lord, I know you sent her to lift our hearts: patient, lovely, graceful. She is our inspiration.
I think of her on shopping days when I drive to Albany for extra food. She keeps my own work ethic steady.
And, she lifts my heart.
So, thank you again for sending her.
Amen
You can purchase this latest book about the spiritual journey of hunger at www.thurmangreco.com.
Please check out the YOUTUBE channel show. Renee, our own wizard, loads new episodes on Tuesdays. “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco” is a positive, entertaining series of conversations with local VIPs that I’ve conducted throughout the last 15 years or so. There have been a few intermissions throughout the years, but not many.
My guests enjoy being on the show and many ask to return. One thing we all have in common: we’ve all met each other somehow in Woodstock, NY
AND thank you for reading this article. This blog post, and the others soon to come, celebrate 10 years of Hunger is not a Disease.
Find out more about Thurman at www.thurmangreco.com.
Send me an email at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
Join me on facebook!
Thurman Greco
“Shadow of a Seagull” – It’s Time for Tom Pacheco!
I just read the news – over 500,000 people are now homeless in Europe, thanks to current events.
In times like these, I always turn to the music of Tom Pacheco. His songs are prayers, heartfelt prayers of understanding and appeal.
When I went to www.tompacheco.com, I heard a perfect song for our situation! Thank you Tom Pacheco!
He wrote the song below for sisters and brothers everywhere. We all need a little help now and then, especially those of us in war-torn Ukraine.
SHADOW OF A SEAGULL
Heavenly father, spirit of all I can see
Watch over my sister the way you have watched over me.
Give her protection, through any danger she meets.
Though she may stumble, let her always land on her feet.
She’s been unlucky. She’s been betrayed.
This time, please give her a good hand to play.
Make every cloud she cannot outrun
be just a shadow of a seagull in the sun.
I have been worried, knowing she’s out there alone
searching for something inside that is deeper than bone.
How long can somebody suffer so much for so long,
before they believe there’s no reason at all to go on.
Show her, her value, to her own eyes.
Give her the wings that will help her to fly.
Make every cloud she cannot outrun
Be just a shadow of a seagull in the sun.
She has taken far too many falls.
Worked so long and hard just to lose it all.
Every crop she planted did not yield.
This time, let a treasure fill her fields.
Guide her through valleys, clear a few trees from her path.
Spare her the merciless winds and the cold winters wrath.
Lead her to someplace of beauty where healing can start.
Let the moon shine off the rivers and into her heart.
Let her find purpose and let her find peace.
From every prison, may she be released.
Make every cloud she cannot outrun
Be just a shadow of a seagull in the sun.
These lyrics and music are copyrighted by Tom Pacheco.
I urge you to listen to some of Tom’s songs. He is good. His heart goes out to the men and women and children suffering in Europe now.
Tom’s energy and work is just the person to motivate us to bring peace in our hearts for Ukraine.
I know this, first hand. Tom stepped up to the plate in Woodstock to help those in need more than once. Tom only knows to give for the benefit of others.
I wrote a memoir about hunger and Tom is in it twice, I think. He is going to be in my upcoming book “Ketchup Sandwich Chronicles”.
Do you have any of his CD’s? If so, play the music to receive peace.
This book sells on my website, www.thurmangreco.com. When you purchase a copy, I’ll send it to the address you give. And, I’ll forward the proceeds to Tom as a small tribute to the goodness he brings to the planet.
Tom’s energy ripples out everywhere and this is something we can all use in these times.
My T-shirts are also available now. We need more of this energy and the proceeds can ripple out as well.
It’s possible that some of you will not understand this appeal. But, some of you will.
Keep on!
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING TO PROMOTE PEACE ON OUR PLANET. EVERY SMALL VIBE COUNTS AND MULTIPLIES THE STRENGTH.
Thurman Greco
Please share this article with your preferred social media network. Please forward it to your friends and family.
Find out more about Thurman at www.thurmangreco.com.
“Shadow of a Seagull” by Tom Pacheco
Thank You for Bringing HOPE
Thank you for your support throughout the year and for the holidays.
I’m hoping that you can continue to include your “feeding the hungry” activities throughout the coming year! Your donations translate into hot meals, safe shelter, and a reminder to the hungry and unhoused that there are those out there who care.
Your generosity changes lives. Food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters restore people’s lives.
It takes all of us to support those in need.
Do you have a crowded closet? Winter clothing needs include:
warm coats
foot wear – especially boots
warm gloves and hats
jeans and pants
sweatpants
long underwear
The items most often resquested: socks
– – – – – – – – –
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please share it on your preferred social media network. Forward it to your friends and relatives.
Find more information about hunger and homelessness on “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco” on YOUTUBE.
www.thurmangreco.com
www.hungerisnotadisease.com
THANK YOU FOR CARING!
Do you want to learn more about hunger and homelessness in America? You can find more info in previous posts on this blog.
SNAP for YOU
Think back to the time when you were a child. Life was probably less complicated then. Occasionally your parents or grandparents or maybe a school teacher, or a rabbi, priest, or pastor had talks with you about life.
Your mother, father, grandmother, teacher may have spoken about sex, money, God, doing right from wrong, not stealing. These talks were important.
Well, now you are an adult with your own life. Consciously or unconsciously, these early life talks shaped you and still influence you to this day. The reality is that the person who took the time and effort to make you a successful adult may now be in need of a talk. It’s entirely possible that this older person of influence to you is quietly doing without the food necessary to lead a healthy life.
Why is this happening?
Well, there may simply be more days in the month than money. Many seniors in our country have outlived their pensions, savings, ability to hold down a job. Statistics tell us that one senior in seven doesn’t get enough to eat. SNAP is one successful way to help seniors.
Seniors are eligible for SNAP.
If you are a senior, please apply for these benefits. You worked all your life, paid your taxes, contributed to the economy. It’s time to benefit from all the contributions you made throughout your life.
SNAP helps pay for the food you need to live a healthy life. When you eat healthier food, you can prevent and control some chronic health issues. This will lower your medical bills.
When you get groceries with SNAP, you’ll have money for other things you need.
SNAP is a debit card offering privacy. That way, if you don’t want anyone to know you receive SNAP, they won’t.
When you use SNAP, your community benefits. This is because you bring money into your local economy which helps farmers, grocers, and local businesses.
When you receive SNAP, you are not taking money away from someone else who might need it more. There are enough SNAP dollars for everyone.
Apply for SNAP at your local Department of Social Services office.
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer this blog post to your preferred social media network.
Please share it with your friends or anyone who may benefit from its message.
If the information in this article interested you, please check out more information in “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco”, a YOUTUBE channel with many interviews and much information about alleviating hunger in America.
The website, www.Thurmangreco.com lists books which give more information. You can also purchase T-shirts, aprons, and other items to support alleviating hunger in America.
Paul, Duct Tape, and Homelessness
Paul has been on my mind all week.
One of my oldest friends, I knew him and worked with him when I worked and lived in Virginia – just outside Washington D.C.
Back then, we had Kelly Girls. Paul was my very best Kelly Girl. I could send him anywhere – well, not to the male chauvinist lawyer who would only pay for a cute legal secretary. But all the others loved his work.
He showed up on time for his assignments and he turned out a perfect work product. He was a bargain. Whatever he did, he made the client feel that Paul gave more than the money’s worth for every job done.
Everyone knew Paul was homeless. Nobody cared. He was the best typist out there. (This was before computers, you understand.) A quality work product counts for a lot when it comes time to pay the bill, after all.
So why have I been thinking about Paul all week? It was the Duct Tape that did it. My watch band broke and I need the watch. I drove over to Genter’s Jewelry Store in Saugerties and discovered a “for rent” sign where the “open” sign used to be. Mr. Genter always fixed everything . He didn’t care whether it was a watch band, a clock, a necklace.
He also sold silver and gold chains at bargain prices. And, he custom designed a coin for me. His work was exacting. Genter’s was my go-to destination for all things jewelry.
Genter’s is a statistic of the Coronavirus. With Mr. Genter gone, what was I going to do? I physically grieved when I saw the sign in the window.
I went straight for the Duct Tape. I now wear a watch held together with Duct Tape. I’m getting used to it, actually. My sense of urgency diminishes a little more each day.
I’m sure I’ll get along just fine with the Duct Tape. Paul Did.
Duct Tape adorned most of Paul’s clothes and anything else he used. Duct Tape held Paul’s shoes together. Duct Tape held the watch on Paul’s arm. Duct tape even kept Paul’s eyeglasses going. Finally, Duct Tape held Paul’s winter coat together.
So, following in Paul’s example, Duct Tape will keep my fitness watch going.
I rather like my new Duct Tape look. And, I like remembering Paul. He always made me smile. And, smiles these days are hard to come by.
Thanks Paul! You set a good example. This Duct Tape will work until I can find Mr. Genter, just as Duct Tape held your shoes together until you could find a newer used pair of shoes.
And, thank you for reading this article. Please forward it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
PS: You can order one or more of the fancy T-shirts pictured in this post today at :
www.thurmangreco.com.
I also wrote about Paul in “No Fixed Address.”