Hunger Is Not a Disease

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.

  1.  Sending a check always helps.  Caring Hands always needs money.
  2.  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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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

Connect – 8 Ways to Help the Homeless

Angel-3-230x300

“Homeless is not a category of people.  It’s just a situation that happens.  It can happen to anyone.” – Salvador Altamirano-Segura

The homeless have problems just like you and me:

employment

health issues

disabilities

domestic violence

veterans

THEY JUST DON’T HAVE A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS.

Homeless people, families enter food pantries very quietly.  They’ve lost their voices.  The goal is to melt into the background, get food, and disappear.

There is an exception to the voicelessness when the person communicates with beings unknown to the rest of us in tongues we don’t understand.  One shopper I know has been in another world since before I began working in the pantry in 2005.

We can all help the homeless in some way.  Each of us has talents and skills which can be useful.

1.  DONATE.  Homeless people carry their kitchens in their pockets so a lot of food which we take for granted and use is just not helpful.  Important in the homeless diet is:

peanut butter and crackers

cereal in small packages

fruits and vegetables which can be eaten raw

milk in small containers.

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

2.  VOLUNTEER.  Pantries everywhere need an extra set of hands to:

Answer mail

Drive a truck

Serve food

Clean up at closing time

Send press releases

Hold food drives

Straighten shelves

Deliver food to the home bound

3.  CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS.  Donate clothing, bedding, books,  in good condition to places where the homeless will have access to your gently used items.

4.  SHARE.  Do you or does someone you know have a garden?  Donate the excess to a homeless friendly pantry or soup kitchen in your area.  When your garden  tomatoes get to be too plentiful,  there are those in your area who need the food. Donate, don’t dump.

5.  PUSH THE ENVELOPE.   Contact elected officials about homeless issues in your area.  Encourage them to make ending homelessness important in your community.

6.  EDUCATE YOURSELF.  Returning veterans have special needs.  For one thing, they often begin their separation from the military homeless.

7.  FIND A JOB.  Encourage your church or community to hire a homeless person.  Many homeless want to work, have skills, but have trouble finding regular employment.

8.  TEACH.  Do you have a skill to share?  Contact a local shelter and offer to give classes.

Thank you for reading this blog/book.

The stories are true.  The people are real.

Please share this article with your preferred social media network.  And send it to anyone you know who might be interested.

Don’t forget to join the email list.

Artwork for this article was donated by Jennette Nearhood

 

Thurman Greco

Bad Back Bob

Bad Back Bob was a shopper/volunteer always available to help.  A veteran with disabilities, he suffered from nightmares, serious spinal issues, an occasional seizure, PTSD, migraines, etc.  He often came early to the pantry on Wednesday to help unload the food.  We all felt that he shouldn’t do this lifting because of the back issues but he really wanted to feel like he was helping in some way.

“Leave my back to me Thurman.  I’m here to help.  I just want to be a part of this pantry.”

At one point, because of the seizures, Bob was unable to drive to the pantry so he got a ride or hitch hiked over from Motel 19 to help.

Bob rode with us to Latham to the Food Bank whenever we asked.

Bob worked in the garage distributing meat whenever we asked.

Bob helped break down hundreds of boxes on Wednesdays whenever we asked.

Bob helped get the food in the pantry on Tuesday mornings whenever we asked.

Bob worked in the pantry during the monthly food delivery whenever we asked.

In short, Bob did everything he could to help keep the pantry going, whenever we asked.

When Bob finally returned to Model 19 after a shift, he would cook up the food that he shopped for and share it with other residents who couldn’t  make it to the pantry that day.

It’s important to note here that Veterans have special needs.  They return home from wars with illnesses, injuries, and they need housing, employment, counseling, health care.  They and their families have many adjustments to make as they get to know one another again after the vet has been in this terrible struggle in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The recovery can take years.  We still see homeless Viet Nam vets.