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
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.
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Thurman Greco
Food Pantry Blog – The Pantry Needs a Refrigerator
I dread talking about politics because I don’t like politics. Never have. Never will. Don’t understand it. Don’t trust it. Politics scares me.” – Kathy Bates>
As I attended classes in Latham, I became more aware of the nutritional needs of the shoppers. One thing I learned: eggs are important.
Eggs offer a lot of nutrition in a small package.
Eggs cook quickly.
Eggs can be prepared in many ways so they’re adaptable to many kinds of cooking environments.
Eggs are acceptable to many different palettes, dietary needs, and food preferences.
Eggs are easy to store.
Eggs don’t take a lot of space.
Eggs are not heavy to carry.
Eggs can be taken right home (whatever and wherever that is) and cooked, safely eaten even if there is no refrigerator.
The one drawback to eggs is that they need to be refrigerated in a pantry. That was a real obstacle in our pantry because we had no refrigerator.
Solution? Get a refrigerator.
Several people offered refrigerators and freezers to the pantry. For the first couple of years I was the coordinator, I declined these offers because there was no space in the building. We had no storeroom and the room itself was just too small.
So…I sought a storage place for our new refrigerator. I planned to store the eggs in the refrigerator and then bring them over to the pantry right before opening time.
I began to contact people I knew in town who might help. After all, I was an officer in the Woodstock Democratic Committee. I had helped several of these people get elected. Maybe I could get help from a local politician:
“Hello Angela. How are you doing? Can you put me through to Jeff Moran? Thanks.”
Please follow this story on the next several posts.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Share this article on your preferred social network.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
