Hunger Is Not a Disease

After 30 Years of Service, Good Neighbor Food Pantry Closes June 1.

After feeding hungry people in Woodstock for over 30 years, volunteers at the Good Neighbor Food pantry were asked to leave the pantry’s space at the Woodstock Reformed Church by June 1, when the pantry will close..

This didn’t happen because there were no hungry people to use the pantry.  This pantry has been one of the largest in the area since it expanded in the economic downfall of 2008.  Before that time, shoppers were mostly a couple dozen single homeless men and Woodstock colorful characters.

With the economic downfall, patronage escalated from 25 people per week to hundreds.  Hungry people filled the halls.  The line filed out the door into the parking lot.

Before the economic downfall, people came in and got one or two each of four basic items:  cereal, tuna fish, peanut butter, soup.  About the time that the crowds began to shop for food, the food bank changed the system  to include fresh produce and a three-day-supply of food for every person in the household.

People left the pantry with bags of food:  eggs, vegetables, fruit, yogurt, items of dignity.

Church members and townspeople never really accepted these changes.

People resented the changes they didn’t ask for.  This was understandable.  No one likes change, especially uninvited change.

They liked feeling only a few people in town needed food.

They liked thinking the pantry was “theirs” when it really belonged to the Food Bank.   After all, that’s where the food came from.  That’s where volunteer  training came from.    That’s where food and rent grants originated.

With the changes in food served came training classes at the Food Bank.  Funds became available to assist pantries with rent, and utilities.  At that time, the volunteer coordinator applied for and received a $1,000 rent grant to pay the church annually.

The $1,000 rent grant was new for the Woodstock Reformed Church.  No food pantry volunteers had  paid  rent money to help the membership.

At the time, the intention was to increase the amount annually.  $8,000 was a long range goal.

$8,000 was not out of line if the refrigerators and freezers were moved from the unpainted barn in the parking lot to the church basement.

A nationally known fundraising guru, Kim Kline, taught interested nonprofit volunteers how to raise money.  She based her success on the premise that givers give.  She told everyone in the class exactly what to do.

After this class, pantry volunteers in Woodstock did exactly as she instructed.

These fundraising efforts at the pantry made the Good Neighbor Food Pantry a success story.  Secrets of successful fundraising are outlined in detail on pages 196 and 197 of the book “I Don’t Hang Out in Churches Anymore.”

The Good Neighbor Food Pantry need not close.  There is time to raise the money needed.  There are probably still volunteers in this pantry who remember these skills taught by Kim Kline.

There is still time to feed the many hungry people who need this food.  The need is greater now than it has ever been.

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Thank you for reading this blog post.  Please forward it to your preferred social media network.  Share it with your friends.

Thank you for your interest in feeding hungry people.  Our need is greater now than ever before.

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, New York

 

 

 

My Philosophy: How I REALLY feel about pandemic hunger

 

We live in a country today in which people struggle for food.  While hunger reaches historic levels, some are unaware of the plight of their neighbors.  Others are not concerned.  Food insecurity doesn’t seem relevant.  Even pandemic hunger cannot convince everyone.

One child in seven lives in poverty.  The family regularly chooses between food and gas, food and medicine, food and rent.

Adults often work more than one job.  Until, with the pandemic, many people’s incomes disappear.

Retirees find themselves too old to work, have more month than money, and try to hide their situation from children and grandchildren.

Our elected leaders have not chosen to address this situation with even a fair minimum wage.

Beginning in 2007,  I fed hungry people in one food pantry for several years and then started another food pantry in a nearby community  needing one.

In 2013, I began to write about hunger.  My experiences and lessons learned filled books and a blog.

In 2018, I began a consciousness-raising practice  on weekends at the Mower’s Meadow Flea Market in Woodstock, New York.

Time spent feeding the hungry taught me this:

There is no excuse for anyone in our great nation to go hungry.

Thank you for reading this article!  Please refer it to your preferred social media network.

Please share it with your friends!

And, finally, don’t forget to tell them about our key hat!

Thurman Greco

MEET MIKAYLA!

Meet our new fashion model!  Mikayla is wearing our latest creation:   a knit cap  with a key embroidered on the cuff.

A symbol of homelessness,  this hat tells our story BEAUTIFULLY.   Hopefully you’ll enjoy wearing it as much as others do.  It’s only $15.  Please go to www.thurmangreco.com or email me at thurmangreco@gmail.com to order your very own key hat!

THANKS AGAIN

Thurman Greco

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