Pets of the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock, New York
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France
One of the most tragic things I witnessed in the pantry was a person giving up a pet because s/he could no longer feed it.
The second most tragic thing I witnessed in the pantry was a person getting food in the pantry for the pet when there was no pet food available. First would come the hopeful question: “Is there any pet food today?” When the answer was “no.”, the person simply went to “Plan B” and take all the allowed items that could possibly be fed to a dog: cereal, bread, canned stews and meats, dried or liquid milk, green beans, carrots, potatoes.
As the economy tanked, people began to give up their pets when they could no longer buy food, grooming, and veterinary visits.
“Hi Thurman. Brian Shapiro here. How are you today?”
“I’m fine Brian. What can I do for you?”
“It’s not what you can do for me Thurman. It’s what I can do for you. Can you use a carload of pet food?”
“Brian, my shoppers are always looking for ways to get food for their pets. Can I send Barry over today? What’s a good time for you?”
Brian and I had this conversation several times over a span of time when shelters everywhere were overwhelmed with dogs. He called from the SPCA in Kingston. The theory was that if they could keep pet food available to the people, then they could prevent the shelter from being overloaded. This helped.
For several months we had a steady supply of food for our pantry dogs and cats. However, all was not well received with the building committee and after awhile we were forbidden to carry any food which was not for humans.
I was never comfortable stocking pet food after that. One winter I stocked cat litter claiming that it could be used for icy sidewalks and driveways.
We had many wonderful pets in our lineup at the pantry. Some of them accompanied their owners to shop at the pantry weekly.
Dianne Dunne had a large black Labrador retriever, Bear, who went with her everywhere. When she came into the pantry, he placidly stayed in the car. In the summer the windows were rolled down and he never jumped out.
Morningstar Raindance always traveled with an energetic short haired chihuahua. She tied Unity to the fence outside the entrance of the pantry. He patiently waited for her while she shopped. When it was cold, she dressed him in a little brown coat.
Cowboy had a very large shorthaired hound mix whom he totally adored. Helena went everywhere with Cowboy. She stayed outside in the yard when he shopped. One of Cowboy’s girlfriends made Helena a coat which she wore in the cold weather.
Diana had an Alaskan Malamute with one blue eye and one silver eye. She had disabilities and Whitey went with her everywhere. This created a bit of stress for us because of the health issues but she and Whitey always made it into the pantry. Diana was a beautiful young woman who definitely needed assistance. Guy Oddo was always on hand to help her read the labels on the cans/boxes, put items into her bags, and carry them to her car…which Diana then drove away. While all of this was happening, Whitey stuck to her like glue – protecting and guiding her.
Father Woodstock and Lady Esther came to the pantry weekly with Hector, their little Lhasa Apso mix. Hector rode in the colorful cart Father Woodstock used when he brought Lady Esther to shop. Father Woodstock and Lady Esther both wore beautiful dresses made of floral silk prints. The color emphasis was red. They dressed up their ensembles with silk kimonos. When they didn’t wear kimonos, they liked ornate silk jackets. They liked long skirts. They both also liked Teva sandals. Both of them painted their toenails. And, of course, both of them had long silver hair and beards.
“Father Woodstock is coming!” announced their runner every time they were on their way to the pantry. He served as the town herald.
Sure enough, within five minutes, Father Woodstock, Lady Esther, and Hector arrived. Father Woodstock always parked the cart at the entrance under the shade of a tree so Hector wouldn’t get overheated.
While Hector waited outside in the cart, Father Woodstock and Lady Esther came in, signed in the register, and shopped. Father Woodstock always told the women how beautiful they are as he tooted a little bicycle horn attached to his walking stick for emphasis.
The Sisters came weekly in a SUV with all their children, one of the women’s husbands, and a little lhasa apso mix, Pokey. The Sisters, between them, had nine children. Everyone patiently waited while they shopped. With a household that large, the amounts of food which went went out to the car were enormous. They carried away cases of USDA, armloads of bread, and anything else they could get that was edible. Even with so many people in the household, they only got one roll of toilet paper and one other item of dignity.
While all this was happening, Brandy, who lived next door in the Woodstock B&B on the Green, was out in the B&B garden greeting the many shoppers. Brandy, herself, was always perfectly groomed and behaved. People liked having Brandy in the garden while they were waiting to get into the building. She was a little bit of a distraction.
She was also a strong grounding influence, something badly needed when the weather was extreme and the lines long.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Children in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock
Everything tells us that children who grow up in poverty are much more likely to be adults in poverty.” – Peter Edelman
Invisible, almost, children came with their parents to the pantry weekly for food. These children are so well behaved in the line and in the pantry. How those kids stood in line with their parents all that time every week and remained well behaved, I’ll never know.
As more and more households work more and more hours at minimum wage jobs to pay more and more money for rent, more and more families are appearing in pantry lines.
That means children. Prior to 2008, there were few to no children in the line at the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock. “There weren’t any lines either. With the downfall of the economy, more and more children were seen in the hallways.
For the most part, these children were beautiful, alert, intelligent. They were brought by parents or grandparents to shop for a three-day supply of food which lasted seven days.
Every time I saw a child in the pantry I was grateful for the efforts our pantry volunteers made weekly to get the most nutritious food we could find and being back to our pantry. The pantry carried some cookies, cakes, and occasional bags of chips. For the most part, our food was the best we could find. Anything organic we could find was brought back to our pantry.
Every time I saw a child in the pantry I was grateful for the efforts of their parents and grandparents made weekly to bring them to get the most nutritious food available because Woodstock had no supermarket.
People bought food in Woodstock at the CVS, RiteAid Pharmacy, Cumberland Farms, and Woodstock Meats. Woodstock was also home of the famous Sunflower Natural Foods Market but many of our shoppers simply couldn’t afford the prices there. Ditto for Sunfrost. Technically, Woodstock, New York, is a grocery store desert. The nearest grocery store is Hurley Ridge Market, an IGA, located seven miles out on Rte 375 in the community of West Hurley. There is no sidewalk to this store. A Price Chopper is eleven miles away in Saugerties on Route 212.
One household with children came to the pantry weekly with their parents. This household was a household of volunteers. They shopped at the pantry, too. When the pantry was open, Robert and Mikey were there with their parents Richard and Jamie Allen.
Richard stood outside the building as the pantry was opening.
Richard carefully watched the parking lot to keep the chaos down.
Richard managed the hallway.
Richard totally knew the stock in the storeroom.
Richard made sure everyone shopping at the pantry had help getting their food to their cars.
Richard made friends with everyone in the shopper line.
Richard walked down to the barn several times each afternoon when the pantry was open.
Richard stood in the pantry room when the shopping line was overcrowded.
Richard was always on the lookout for anything which might upset the flow of the people into the pantry.
Richard taught Robert to help out in the pantry.
Richard taught Robert to break down the used cardboard boxes.
Richard and Robert did their best to keep the cardboard out of sight.
Richard taught Robert to help out in the barn.
Richard taught Robert to haul groceries out to the shoppers’ cars.
Richard taught Robert to get the handcart ready for the food when a large household came shopping so there wouldn’t be so much heavy lifting.
Richard didn’t teach Robert to climb to the top shelves in the storeroom to retrieve much needed items. Robert learned that on his own.
Robert, 10, loved food…any kind of food. Whenever Robert wasn’t otherwise occupied helping out in the pantry, breaking down cardboard boxes, helping his dad in the storeroom, the barn or the parking lot, he liked to come to the pantry room and eat anything that didn’t eat him first…raw. I always felt Robert is destined to be a chef someday.
Little Mikey, 5, was never unhappy or trying to get into trouble. Mikey wanted nothing more than to help out in any way possible. Of course, being 5, Mikey invented ways to help if we didn’t give him direction. All in all, he was a gift to the pantry, smiling and greeting everyone who came. For many, this was transformational. Mikey was therapy.
Everyone at the pantry smiled when the Allens showed up to volunteer. They had their own little caravan going. Rich drove in with Robert riding shot gun. They had a bright chartreuse repurposed ambulance which still had the sirens.
Jamie drove a 22-year-old red Ford pickup with a black camper top which Richard and Robert kept going.
Jamie helped assemble the food for the take out bags.
Jamie helped pack the take out bags.
Jamie helped in the hallway.
Jamie assisted the older and infirm shoppers.
Jamie was loved by everyone.
Children are important in a pantry. For one thing, there are many malnourished children needing the food offered by pantries. It’s estimated that 75% of the people shopping at pantries are food insecure which means they don’t have enough food to eat on a regular basis.
It’s also estimated that 25% of the people receiving food at pantries are children. Malnourished children experience more learning difficulties and more illnesses. Hungry children have a difficult time learning. They get sick more often than their well nourished classmates.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
What Goes Up Sometimes Goes Down!!!!
Ron Van Warmer told us today: “The new statistics on elder hunger are now one in seven.”
I rejoiced! Ron, Associate Director of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, was sharing the latest results of the 2012 Feeding America survey. The 2010 survey (in which I participated) reported the statistics at one in five. The new information tells me fewer seniors are going to bed at night hungry than in the past.
Many people go to bed hungry at night these days but the elder hungry are a true tragedy. As a group, most retired citizens in our nation spent their lives working and paying taxes. Now that their incomes are limited and their expenses are not, they no longer have the money for food. They’re finding themselves, just like younger people in the new Struggling Class, choosing between food and gas, food and medicine, food and heating bills.
Seniors, as a group, are loathe to ask for food stamps or go to food pantries. They don’t see the pantry food given to them for what it is – our tax dollars at work. They overlook the fact that all the produce is diverted from a landfill. Most of the diverted produce in our area is both organic and gorgeous as well.
Instead, they see themselves as poor planners unable to care for themselves in their old age. They don’t take into account that the rules have drastically changed since 2008. Many senior citizens are afraid to ask for help getting SNAP or finding a pantry because they’re afraid that if someone finds out they don’t have enough food, they’ll end up in an assisted living center or nursing home.
Several weeks ago Sara called me from an apartment complex located in the forest off Route 28 in Ulster County. “Thurman, I want to thank all of you at the Reservoir Food Pantry for delivering food to us out here weekly. We’re miles from a grocery store or pharmacy and without your deliveries many of us would go hungry. In fact, recently, Mary was going hungry. I found out last month that she was completely out of food because she spent her food budget money on a birthday gift for a grandchild.
Thurman, I got myself in my scooter and rode from apartment to apartment asking for food from all the residents for her so she wouldn’t be hungry.”
This story really sends a message. When you realize that the woman telling me the story of how she went from apartment to apartment had lost both legs at the hip and one arm at the elbow. Her efforts to get food for a neighbor were astounding considering her obstacles.
When they finally reach the point where they can’t buy food anymore, seniors run a risk of getting sick which puts an additional burden on the children and grandchildren who will have to care for them. I know I don’t want to put this burden on my children. I feel that I’m not alone with this attitude. Food pantries are there for the hungry. Elderly poor are loathe to visit them. Instead of seeing a pantry for what it is: their tax dollars at work, they see only the shame of it all. Pantries are still taboo in our country. So, rather than experience the shame, they go without food.
Most pantries offer a three-day supply of food. Many offer fresh, organic produce, fresh dairy products, and freshly baked breads.
Hunger in America is a true hidden tragedy. No one in this great nation of ours should go hungry. When people, older people, experience living without sufficient food, it’s a crime.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Tom Pacheco
“Don’t Be Scared. Do Not Yield.” – Tom Pacheco
We stalked him for five whole days, Harriet Kazanski and I, in the weeks before the first music festival. We wanted the legendary Tom Pacheco to play for the crowd at the festival.
We went over to Maria’s at different times during the day because we knew he hung out there when in town. And, every time we went we heard pretty much the same thing: “He didn’t come in yet today. Try back around 5:00.”
Or, we’d hear: “You just missed him. He left a little while ago.”
Maria always had the most comforting smile. I felt like a teenager chasing a movie star. Tom Pacheco is a legend throughout the world and we were really hoping against hope.
When we finally tracked him down one afternoon about 4:00, he was wonderful. He turned us down on the music festival but he offered one better. “I’ll give you a concert. Here’s my phone number. Call me in the fall and we’ll schedule something in February. I want to give this concert for you. I’m writing a song about hunger.”
I shyly thanked him, got back in Harriet’s car and we drove away. Our hearts were singing!
And, give a concert he did! He gathered some of his friends: Brian Hollander, the Cupcakes, (Lyn Hardy, Elly Wininger, and Janice Hardgrove), Dave Kearney, Dan Wininger, and Norm Wennert.
Lucy Swensen of the Turning Mill designed the posters advertising the evening and they were posted all over town.
On a cold evening the following February we all gathered at the Community Center at 7:00 p.m. That was, of course, a really early time for Tom and the musicians but pantry people have their own time clock and this was the hour they chose.
Volunteers made cookies. Laura and Peggy brought coffee pots. Somebody else brought a tea pot. Coffee was made. Tea was brewed. The energy gathered.
People arrived. The event charge was all by donation. Some people dropped coins in the jar. Others brought bags of food for the pantry. Yet others wrote extremely generous checks.
The event managed itself. It was an evening right out of the old “Union Hall” days. Different performers got up, played their music, and then turned the mike over to the next person on the list.
Someone suggested that I get up and be the M.C. I didn’t dare. If I did, I would begin to talk about hunger and ruin everyone’s fun time. Tom knew exactly what to do. And it was a perfect evening. Tom is the consummate professional.
When Tom played his song about hunger, I cried.
Tom asked his triends to join him on the stage that night. At one point, he had the local newspaperman, Brian Hollander, play with him. I loved it. Tom would be playing and singing along and then tap his foot loudly and say “Hit it Brian!”
And, Brian would play his heart out.
Every person in that room had a wonderful evening. Tom did that for the pantry. We are eternally grateful.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
