Hunger Is Not a Disease

Healing 1: Serving the Hungry with an Understanding Heart

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” – Psalm 63:1

“That person lives in Shandaken.  He shouldn’t even be here.”

 

The pantry served shoppers, volunteers, hungry people.  Volunteers fed everyone in the line.  No exceptions.

Distributing groceries brought forgiveness and healing.  Healing was an after thought of forgiveness.

For me, healing required some commitment and thought.  Whether or not this was true, questions always arose:

“Am I ready to be healthy?”

“Can I get well if it’s scary?”

“Can I leave the old me aside if it’s necessary for healing?”

“Why am I going through this?”

“What is the meaning of it all?”

These questions could be painful.  Healing can be hard on everyone.

The pantry line had massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, medical intuitives, and other healers.

As a healer, I know healing happens on several levels in our lives:  physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, mythical.  Both healing and getting well were special challenges because many of the people in the hallway, the pantry room, and out in the parking lot didn’t have health care.

While he had his office, Woodstock had Dr. Longmore.  After his office closed, things were tough for many.  As health care became scarce, everyone became personally involved with the differences between healing and getting well.  For some, this was part of the spiritual journey.

Hunger often went beyond a plate of beans or a jar of peanut butter.  That’s why food is essential to healing.  That’s where homemade soup comes in.

Sharing food in the pantry helped people heal.  Fresh vegetables, eggs, and Bread Alone bread offered a healing experience with abundance.  As we fed the shoppers, we helped ourselves and each other.

In some cases, the shoppers became the volunteers or the volunteers joined the shoppers.  Shoppers came to get food and found they could volunteer.  Volunteering changed them.  As a person distributed groceries, the volunteer made contact with another person and was able to smile.

Pantry experiences coaxed us out of our own problems.  Offering a sense of community gives back so much more.

Do you want to be healed?  Healing and feeding are connected.

Sooner or later, we all get sick.  Finally, we die.

No one escapes.  This truth is harder on hungry people who have no $$$ for health care.

Hungry people are often blamed for their inability to deal with the situation.  It’s as if it’s their fault for being down and out in Woodstock.  If they lived right, they would be healthier, make more $$$ in their jobs.

If critics stopped and thought about how insufficient nutritious food, improper housing, and inadequate or nonexistent healthcare impacts a person, they might feel differently.

What did it matter that there were no jobs in the area and none of those that came open paid over $8.00 an hour?

Because they were down and out, they must be guilty of something.

They were negative thinkers, lacking faith, and basically lazy.  Something.

They were gay, trans, promiscuous, alcoholics.  Something.

They were freeloaders, irresponsible, flaky.  Something.

Healing and getting well are two different things, acting in different ways.  But, whether a person heals, gets well, or both, change happens.

“Do I want to heal?”

“Do I want to be well?”

“What if I come out of this experienced a different person?”

“What if it takes a long time?”

In the midst of this, the pantry offered some normalcy to the shattered lives of hungry people when they took pantry food home to wherever and whatever that was, fixed a meal, and served it to those in the household.

It was supper from the pantry.

Health issues pointed to the spiritual challenges which popped up on the path to the pantry.  Healing was on the agenda.  We all wanted to get well.

People getting well overcome symptoms.  Getting well means doctor’s visits, therapy, pills, creams.  These things were simply not an option for pantry shoppers because there was no money.

Symbolic healing occurred in the hallway on pantry days as shoppers and volunteers discussed their diabetes, PTSD, cancer, allergies.

Working and shopping in the pantry was therapy to volunteers and shoppers.  These hallway conversations were cheaper than the physical and mental health services they had no money for anyway.

These conversations were essential because talking about a health issue promotes healing.  Shared symptoms gave us all support, strength, validity.

Everyone walking through the door to the pantry, whether a shopper or volunteer, was asked to leave the past behind.  This experience was different for everyone.  But, think about it, how can we move forward into our new lives if we never give anything up.

For some, giving up the past means letting go of things lost:  the job, the home, maybe the family, self-esteem, the car, good health, money, insurance, the pet, anger, or drugs.

As the past disappears, the remaining spiritual baggage weighs less and less.  Prejudices become fewer.  Fears diminish.  We heal!

Some things surrendered were physical, some mental, and some emotional.  But, one thing is certain, whatever the category, the experiences all had a spiritual aspect.

Giving and receiving food brought everyone a little peace.

Everyone coming to the pantry heals somehow.  The pantry community supports and approves hungry individuals as they climb back on the road to wellness and something offering normalcy.

Nobody just wakes up one day and says “I think I’ll go down to the local food pantry and volunteer.”  People spending time in pantries all travel down the path.  Healing  has signposts along the way.

Some needed physical healing.  Volunteers occasionally came to the pantry so ill that they were barely able to make it into the building.  When this happened, I stationed them at the Items of Dignity table distributing toilet paper, shampoo, razors.  They offered one roll of toilet paper and one other item to each shopper.

                                 Each week, Deanna slowly walked the two blocks to the pantry and then worked in the hallway a couple of hours while she gathered enough energy to return home.

“Don’t forget your roll of toilet paper, Judith.  We’ve got some hand cream today.  Can you use that or would you prefer tooth paste?”

When Deanna finally couldn’t work in the hallway anymore, Rachel gracefully sat at the Items of Dignity table helping shoppers choose their two items.  Rachel lived in nearby Mt. Tremper.  Her living situation seemed somewhat precarious because every few months she looked for a new place to live.  She lived in her car a couple of times.

Thank you for reading this blog post.  This is the first food pantry article on healing.

Please forward this article with your preferred social media network.  Share it with a friend.

If you are interested in healing, please check out my other blog:  www.reflexologyforthespirit.com.

Thanks again.

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, NY

PS:  Many programs are now uploaded to YouTube.  More are being added weekly.   Enjoy!

 

 

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.”

 

Food Pantry Blog – 9 Things You Can Do To Help the Homeless In Your Area

“People are living in tents. They’re living in cars. They’re living in the woods.” – Ginger Segal
Be a friend to Mother Earth by donating instead of dumping food, growing fresh produce and donating it to your local food pantry, donating clean egg cartons and reusable shopping bags pantry volunteers to share with shoppers.

Donate food to a homeless friendly pantry in your area. A homeless friendly pantry doesn’t discriminate against homeless shoppers by demanding identification with addresses. After all, homeless people don’t have an address and cannot shop in those pantries requiring detailed identification.

Donate food to a pantry in your area that distributes food the homeless can eat. Homeless people carry their kitchens in their pockets so a lot of food which we take for granted and use is just not useful for the homeless person. Homeless people need peanut butter and crackers, cereal in small packages, fruits and vegetables to be eaten raw: carrot sticks, strawberries, blueberries, celery sticks, etc. Milk in small containers is useful.

Give a little throughout the year by regularly donating to the pantry in your area which is most homeless friendly.

Volunteer at a homeless friendly pantry or soup kitchen.

Communicate with Persons of Influence by contacting elected officials about homeless issues in your area and encouraging them to make ending homelessness a priority.

Get organized by cleaning out your food pantry and donating the healthy items to the food pantry. Donate clothing and bedding in good condition to places where you feel the homeless will have access to some of the items.

Understand that returning vets have special needs and they often begin their separation from the military homeless.

Know that people being released from prison often are homeless. They no longer have contact with their community. They have no job. They have no place to go.

Help set up a pocket pantry in a church, synagogue, or school.

Peace and food for all.
Please share this article with your favorite social network.
Thurman Greco