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.
No Fixed Address
“No Fixed Address” is dedicated to those in our country with no roof over their heads. See your neighbors, your friends, your relatives, in new ways as they describe their daily lives in their own words.
The people in this new book reveal themselves to be both brave and fearless as they go about their activities: work, laundry, children’s homework, appointments. Mostly they live like the rest of us. They just have no roof over their heads.
“No Fixed Address” is my newest book in the Unworthy Hungry series. It’s easy to read and understand. You won’t be bored, not even for a minute.
I hope you’ll order it today. Get an extra copy for a friend!
This book has an extra surprise. When you get a copy, you’ll be making a donation to a good cause. You’ll be fighting hunger and homelessness.
It doesn’t get much better than that!
Thank you for reading this article!
Please forward it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Exploring the Spirituality of Hunger in America – New Beginnings Part 1
Part 1
I began this memoir before I even knew it. On the first day I worked in the basement food pantry, I sat with Mary, a member of St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church and the head of the alter society. We greeted a couple dozen hungry people. Mostly single homeless men, there were a few of Woodstock’s famous colorful characters included in the mix that day.
Throughout my career in the pantry, the most colorful of the colorful was Grandpa Woodstock who liked to bring his bride, Lady Estar into the pantry to shop. The two of them went around the room choosing from peanut butter, cereal, tuna fish, and soup. While this happened, he entertained us gushing enthusiastically.
“My, how beautiful you look today!” I fell for his spiel every pantry day. Those words melted my heart. The most professional of the street actors, he knew how to make us each feel special when he flashed his peace sign and posed for photographs. Grandpa knew how to flash that peace sign, whip out his postcards to sell, and sound off his horn “toot toot”. I sometimes thought he spent a few afternoons posing in front of a mirror to figure out how to get the best response from tourists.
Grandpa Woodstock and Lady Estar were most photogenic with their long, flowing silver hair. Their lovely matching beards only emphasized floral print silk skirts and kimonos. Their toenails were painted matching colors and their Teva sandals matched.
None of Woodstock’s rich and famous got so many requests for autographs and photographs. They simply couldn’t compete with his show off tricks.
After all, Grandpa entertained us all with street theater at its finest. So what if he didn’t mean a word of it? We all enjoyed being sucked into the show!
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Caring Hands
Kingston, New York is a rapidly gentrifying and trendy trendy little town in New York State. Almost every day I see new neighbors in this community. They’ve found just the perfect weekend apartment and are ecstatically, euphorically furnishing it with just the perfect finds. In short, they are in love with Kingston!
In their giddiness, they have may not have yet noticed the Caring Hands Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen. Or maybe they have. Maybe they see that one of the most important things about Kingston is that the residents care for one another. This attitude helps make Kingston what it is – a community we all want to be part of.
2017 is turning out to be a tough year for food pantries in general and Caring Hands Food Pantry in Kingston, New York in particular. But, Caring Hands isn’t just a food pantry. It’s a soup kitchen, and a warming center with a recovery and twelve-step program. As if that’s not enough, they’ve got a free legal clinic, too.
Volunteers at Caring Hands, under the direction of the Rev. Darlene L. Kelley at the Clinton Avenue Methodist Church, work hard as they put their beliefs into action daily. Almost 600 meals are served weekly in the soup kitchen. Over 3,000 households receive groceries monthly.
Children, the elderly, families, veterans, and the ill are all welcome at Caring Hands. The goal is to help people in need help themselves. The message of God’s transforming love is spread throughout the community from the Clinton Avenue Methodist Church as it ripples out in waves.
It is easy for you to be a part of this message. You don’t have to move to Kingston. You don’t have to attend the church there. You don’t even have to know anyone in the area. All you need to do is give a little … or a lot … of whatever you can share.
- Sending a check always helps. Caring Hands always needs money.
- Sending a gift certificate always helps, too. Did someone give you a gift certificate that that you’ll probably never use? Well, now is a good time to use it. Send it on over.
- Extra time is extremely valuable. If you live in the area, you can be a part of this miracle when you volunteer. Your gift of presence will be greatly appreciated.
- Hold a food drive. Gifts of food are always, always needed. If you don’t live in the area, hold a food drive anyway and donate the cans and boxes of food to a food pantry in your area.
- Call an elected representative and lobby for the poor and hungry in your area. Persuade this elected official to be generous with funds for those around us who do not have everything they need to live a healthy life.
- Your prayers and kind thoughts are always welcome. Those at Caring Hands as well as at other food pantries throughout our country are working hard to bring food and love to a broken community. They need your support.
Caring Hands has a mailing address to send your check and/or gift certificates: CARING HANDS
c/o THE CLINTON AVENUE UMC
P. O. Box 1099
Kingston, New York 12402.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Hopefully you’ll share it with your favorite social media outlet.
With this blog posted article comes an apology for not having posted often enough in the past months. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care or that I’m no longer interested in hunger. To the contrary. I’m deeply involved in bringing my next book to my publisher. And, it’s about hunger in America.
Thurman Greco
