Food Pantry Blog – Ho Hum, Just Another Pantry Miracle in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Well, maybe you don’t believe in miracles. I do. I was in denial for the longest time. But, after a while, I had to face reality. There were simply too many coincidences.
One September pantry day the lines were longer than usual and the shelves were emptying out fast. “I think we’re going to run out of food” I mentioned under my breath to Marie Duane, a volunteer from St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church.
“Do we have a plan for this kind of event?” I asked myself.
Just then, as if someone had blown a whistle, a red haired woman drove up in a tan SUV filled with bags of food she had collected from Congregation Agudas Achim in Kingston. Harriet Kazansky unloaded enough canned and boxed food to get us through the day with some food left over!
One December, the week after Christmas to be exact, John Mower drove up with a trunk load of canned vegetables for the pantry in his car. What a gift! Our pantry was totally depleted in December. Then, the next pantry day, along came another trunk load. He finally quit after three trips to the pantry. He filled our shelves for the next pantry day.
One Tuesday morning in the pantry, Peggy Johnson was upset because she didn’t have enough food to prepare the take out bags for the fourteen families she delivered food to. Food had been scarce and this week the take out area seemed to be empty. A large man suddenly walked in the door carrying a very large box filled with canned and boxed items. A Kingston fireman who grew up in the Woodstock area, he made Peggy promise not to tell his name. However, she didn’t have to keep his gift a secret: In one trip down the pantry hallway, carrying a box large enough to hold everything need, he singlehandedly provided all the food for fourteen homebound families that week. Our pantry has never heard from him since.
In the pantry hallway, we had an Items of Dignity closet where shoppers could take a roll of toilet paper and one other item each time they shopped. We were forbidden by the building committee to have clothing in this closet.
As luck would have it, Prasida needed a pair of winter boots. One Wednesday afternoon, I noticed a pair of new boots – in her size. They were hidden in a dark corner of a shelf. One of the volunteers took them off the shelf. “Prasida, can you wear these boots?” Prasida came over the closet, looked them over, and put them on.
“Ahhh – a perfect fit! Thank you Amma! Now I won’t have cold feet this winter in my summer sandals.” Ho Hum. Just another pantry miracle.
At one point, I was reading Doreen Virtue’s book, “Archangels and Ascended Masters.” One night I read about Saint Therese, also known as the Little Flower. The story goes that if one prays to St. Therese, she will send a rose as a sign that the request has been heard. The next day, I found a rose on the pantry floor as I walked in the room.
But the real miracle happened repeatedly in the pantry as the shoppers and volunteers both began to heal and change and grow from the community, their commitment, and the experiences in the pantry. When people first started coming to the pantry, either to volunteer or shop, they were focused inward on their own problems, issues, health, etc. After a short time, they began to focus on their friends in the pantry. They became concerned about something bigger than themselves and their private struggles.
In short, they became new.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman
