Summertime
“What’s happened?” she asked with concern in her voice.
“What do you mean? ” I replied.
“What happened to the people?”
“Oh, that. Well, it’s summer.”
What’s happened is that the faces are often different in the pantry in the summer. When you’re living on the edge, when you’re a member of the Struggling Class, the change of seasons counts for a lot.
People who were too sick to make it to the pantry in cold are now able to make it out. How they manage to make it through the winter is a question for me. These shoppers barely get enough to eat as it is. How do they eat over the winter? Humans are not bears and don’t hibernate. What do these disabled do to survive?
And, yet, we have many in this category.
Some can’t make it to the pantry in the winter because their vehicles aren’t winter worthy. Beyond a certain temperature, the cars just don’t work. Then, as spring rolls around, they manage to get them running again to drive to the pantry during the warmer months.
Making it to the pantry in the winter is really difficult for the homeless. Truthfully, I don’t know how some of these homeless live in the winter. How they keep from freezing to death seems to me to be a miracle.
We lose some shoppers also. In the winter, men visit the pantry regularly because they don’t have work. Then, as the weather gets warmer, they find jobs and can’t come to the pantry because they’re working when the pantry is open.
We always miss these guys because they are good volunteers and really make a contribution to the pantry during the cold months.
One staple which carries everyone through challenges is peanut butter. Peanut butter is important to everyone in the Struggling Class.
It is important because it:
can be eaten right out of the jar.
needs no refrigeration.
has a long shelf life.
is not necessary to have teeth in order to eat it.
does not have to be combined with another food in order to be palatable.
is nutritious.
does not usually come in a container requiring a can opener.
is not necessary to cook it.
The only hitch to this whole wonderful story about peanut butter is that most of the time, there is no peanut butter in the food pantry.
The only time we are able to get peanut butter in our pantry is when we are having a peanut butter drive. It’s been months since we’ve had a decent amount, or any amount, of peanut butter.
Can you help?
There are 2 ways you can come to our rescue:
Our pantry is open Mondays from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. I’m usually there by 10:00 am.
On Tuesday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 we are in the pantry packing the take out bags.
If you live/work in the area and want to bring some peanut butter to the pantry, we’re happy to receive it then.
If dropping the peanut butter off at the pantry is not convenient, we’ll be happy to accept your donation and purchase the peanut butter for the pantry. Please send the check to: Reservoir Food Pantry, P.O.Box 245, Boiceville, NY 12412.
We thank you in advance for this generosity. Currently, we serve over 150 households each week. Everyone needs peanut butter.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
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Grocery shopping is always a problem for the elderly.
I first met her outside the shed at the Reservoir Food Pantry. A recent widow, I heard her comment “I just never knew how hard it was going to be as a widow.” Her husband died just over a year ago and she’s still making her way toward accepting her new reality.
“I never knew it would be so difficult…being alone like this. I’ll never tell my children I come here. I don’t want them to know.”
As she spoke, she wiped an occasional tear while moving through the pantry line with a group of women, all about her own age. They were choosing corn and apples, squashes, greens, onions, potatoes. As the line snaked forward, she turned her attention to the canned goods: beans, soup, fruits, veggies.
Pat hasn’t made it to the food stamp office in Kingston. For one thing, it’s a good half hour down Route 28. For another, she’s afraid:
of the forms,
the humiliation of being unable to survive on her own,
the long wait in a building she may not even be able to find,
finally, she’s afraid of the whole process which she finds frightening.
Her financial situation isn’t so far from all the other older women in the pantry line. Grocery shopping for the elderly is difficult under the best of circumstances. Getting to the grocery store can be challenging for older people – getting around in the parking lot and going up and down the grocery store aisles is no fun anymore. And, then, when they can’t find what they need, they have to maneuver the muddy parking area and the scary entrance ramp at the pantry. And…we haven’t even discussed the packages yet. They’ve got to be gotten home and in the house (wherever and whatever that is).
Finally, getting high quality, affordable food is more and more difficult as the days go by. And, as difficult as it is for Pat, she’s one of the lucky ones. She’s got a working automobile.
Combine the lack of a working automobile, bad weather, not enough $$$ and you’ve got the makings of a disaster for a senior.
I keep telling everyone who’ll listen that seniors should get their SNAP card, a list of nearby pantries, and their first social security check at the same time. So far, nobody has listened. Of course not. Why should they? We’ve all got gray hair.
Seniors struggle with the big 3:
food
housing
medical expenses.
Forget the extras like clothing. As seniors, we get less, pay more, and go without. When I need something new to wear, I go to the boutique of my closet.
Healthcare costs can be devastating, even to a senior with medicare. Once a person comes down with cancer or other expensive disease, the pocketbook empties pretty fast.
There is real pressure to feed the rising tide of hungry people at every pantry. We get questionnaires periodically from different agencies wanting to know how often we run out of food. How does “weekly” sound?
The Big 3 for pantries include:
high unemployment
widespread poverty
deep cuts in social spending programs.
Pantries, for the most part, are
arbitrary,
subjective,
strongly biased
when it comes to deciding who can and cannot receive food. There are simply too many agencies with too many people standing in line for too little food for any food bank or state office to properly oversee and supervise the selection process.
As far as feeding the hungry, we’re not even coming close to filling the need created by the widespread poverty and deep spending cuts. People in food pantry lines are, in a severe winter, choosing between eating and heating.
Our pantry, housed in a shed, an old green house, and the back of a restaurant is a ragtag emergency food movement which is in reality not emergency at all.
Lines and crowds outside our pantry on Monday afternoons can easily convince any onlooker that the good old U S of A has a food problem.
http://www.reservoirfoodpantry.org
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman
Tara Sanders Teaches Trauma Sensitive Yoga
Many people coming to a pantry or soup kitchen have given up on their stories. They’ve lost their voices. With trauma-sensitive yoga classes, they have an opportunity to change the stories themselves. They can add new chapters.
Tara Sanders, a Woodstock based yoga instructor, is the program director in the nonprofit Exhale to Inhale.
Exhale to Inhale yoga works to empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to heal through yoga. Exhale to Inhale yoga guides women through postures, breathing, and meditation. Taught in trauma-sensitive style, practitioners are enabled to ground themselves in
their bodies
their strength
their stillness.
As this happens, they connect to themselves and work toward empowerment and worthiness. This practice can be transformational for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence when they shed the cloak of victimhood.
This is extremely important for people working and shopping in pantries because many survivors of domestic and sexual violence are found in these communities. The influence of this trauma is great. Add to this trauma another layer of
hunger,
unemployment,
underemployment,
homelessness,
serious illnesses to include mental illness
and you have a person who is finally voiceless.
Finally, the classes are free. Many attending these classes have absolutely no money at all.
Healers and body workers have long known that when the body is traumatized, the event is stored in the muscles.
Tara teaches the classes without music. She does not touch the students to correct a posture. Lights remain on throughout the class. These sessions offer survivors an opportunity to reclaim their lives through the healing and grounding of yoga.
Tara uses the yoga classes to help her students feel safe, strong, and in the present moment. As she teaches, she is a conduit for healing, and healthful programs in our community.
Exhale to Inhale is a New York-based nonprofit offering free weekly yoga classes to survivors of domestic and sexual assault. As an introduction to our area, Tara will teach free public yoga classes on Saturdays from 11 am to noon at the Center for Creative Education, 15 Railroad Ave, in Kingston.
After June 20, Exhale to Inhale yoga will be offered free of charge to women in area shelters.
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Thurman Greco
The Big 3: We get less, pay more, and do without.
WHAT GROCERIES CAN YOU BUY FOR $16?
(The Minium SNAP Allotment)
Prices from Kingston Walmart
– 1 dozen eggs – $1.98
– 1/2 gallon milk – $1.94
– 1 lb. pinto beans – $1.28
– 1 lb. rice – $ .84
– 1 lb. onions – $ .99
– 1 can diced tomatoes – $ .79
– 1 lb ground turkey – $2.98
– 1 can corn – $ .77
– 1 lb. potatoes – $2.97
– 1 can tuna – $ .78
Total = $15.32
I first met Pat last fall when she came to the Reservoir Food Pantry the first time. She’s an older woman, a widow. Her husband died just over a year ago She’s still making her way toward her new life.
“I never dreamed it would be so hard…being alone like this. I didn’t tell my children that I came here. I don’t want them to know the situation.”
While she spoke, she wiped an occasional tear. She moved through the pantry line composed of a group of women, all about her own age. They chose corn, apples, squash, late season greens, onions, potatoes. As the line snaked forward, she turned her attention to the canned goods: beans, soup, fruits, veggies.
Pat hasn’t visited the SNAP (food stamp) office in Kingston yet. For one thing, it’s a good half hour down Route 28. For another, she’s afraid:
the forms,
the humiliation of being unable to survive on her own,
the long wait in a building that she may not even be able to find. And, finally, she’s afraid of the whole process which she finds threatening.
Her financial situation isn’t so far from all the other women in the pantry line. Grocery shopping for the elderly is difficult under the best circumstances. Getting to the grocery store can be challenging for order people – getting around in the parking lot and going up and down the grocery store aisles is no fun anymore. Then, when they can’t find what they need at a price they can afford, they have to maneuver the muddy parking lot and the scary entrance ramp at our pantry.
We haven’t even discussed the packages yet. They’ve got to be gotten home and in the house wherever and whatever that is.
Finally, finding affordable high quality food becomes more difficult as the days go by. As difficult as it is for Pat, she’s one of the lucky ones. Her automobile works.
The combination of a nonworking automobile, bad weather, insufficient $$$ is the makings of a disaster for a senior.
I keep telling everyone who will listen that seniors should get their SNAP card, a list of nearby pantries, and their Medicare card at the same time. So far, nobody has heard.
“Of course not.” I tell myself. “Why should they? We’ve all got gray hair.”
Seniors struggle with the Big 3:
food
housing
medical expenses.
Forget the frills like Kleenex and clothes. As seniors, we get less, pay more, and go without. We decide whether to heat or eat.
Healthcare costs can be devastating, even to a senior on medicare. Once a person comes down with cancer or other major disease, the pocketbook empties pretty fast.
There is a real pressure to feed the rising tide of hungry at every pantry. We receive questionnaires periodically from different agencies wanting to know how often we run out of food. How does “weekly” sound?
The Big 3 for pantries include:
high unemployment,
widespread hunger
deep cuts in social spending programs.
Every pantry is different. Some feed anyone who needs food.
Others are arbitrary and biased when it comes to deciding who can or cannot receive food.
Yet others require paper work which cuts eliminates the homeless entirely.
There are too many agencies with too many people standing in line for too little food. No Food Bank office can oversee or supervise the selection process.
At Reservoir Food Pantry, we serve a 3-day-supply of food with a large dash of dignity to all who come.
The lines and crowds outside pantries can easily convince any onlookers that our nation has a food problem.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
7 Ways “Work First” Doesn’t Work
WORK FIRST – Since the ’90s, many states have been hell bent to Harry to get people to work…no matter what. Welfare is no longer on the table.
A tip here: Many people don’t realize that the Good Ol’ U S of A hasn’t offered much in the way of welfare in a long, long time.
In polite conversation, I hear the statement: “What they need is a swift kick in the rear to get on somebody’s payroll.” I find it totally amazing that people in this country have been and continue to be comfortable denying assistance to destitute families while offering tax breaks to the wealthy on vacation homes, yachts, etc.
The question I have is this: How do people cope?
Work first is not always a good option. I regularly see pantry shoppers with family members who would be institutionalized if they weren’t being cared for by the family. The problem is that the family has nothing. So while Helen or Sue or Fred is caring for the ill person, s/he is not able to work.
Right now, in our pantry there is an older couple…he’s obviously a loving caregiver. This man might be able to work were it not for his very ill wife.
Another woman shops regularly with a very mentally ill family member. This young man cannot be left alone…not even for a few minutes.
While the sick/handicapped family member is being cared for at home, the state is paying little or nothing. So, the family is in desperate financial straits because of a very ill family member. One day, someone in this family is going to realize the situation and then our state’s bill is going to increase significantly when the ill person is institutionalized.
I’m suspecting at least some of these people are very willing to care for the ill/handicapped family member because there are no jobs out here. When a job comes along, the person will be working and the state will be paying a very hefty bill for the institution.
Wouldn’t it just be better in the long run to pay the family a stipend in lieu of the institution?
But, family members are not unemployed solely because of a sick/handicapped family member. There are several reasons why people simply cannot work…no matter how many swift kicks the extremely poor person receives. These barriers to work success can effectively kill someone’s career:
Work first is an interesting philosophy when there are no jobs.
Poor quality childcare will kill a job faster than anything. When a family exists below the poverty level, there is no $$$ for childcare. So, the children go to grandma’s, or the neighbor down the road…or stay home alone.
Transportation issues are major factors in unemployment. They include:
no public transportation,
not owning a vehicle which is 4-season functional,
not having enough gas $$$, and finally,
not having the $$$ to fix the car when it breaks down.
A lot of networking is done in pantry lines for a mechanic to keep the family wreck on the road.
Literacy issues and lack of work experience are barriers to employment. In our area, there are some illiterate people.
Until a person has a job, it’s difficult to get a job. So…it can be very challenging to find the first job. I know young people working for free in hopes of finding something that will pay. Then, one day, they get something part time, off the books! The next step up the ladder is to graduate to half on/half off. Then, finally, hurray! A job finally happens which is on the books. A job with benefits is often beyond the dream of a person in our area.
Then, of course, we have the taboo subject: domestic violence. At the poverty level, domestic violence is simply not discussed. Domestic abuse contributes to poverty. A woman cannot escape an abusive situation without $$$ and right now there’s not much of that around.
There is not much attention given to this situation. In future blog posts, I will be
addressing this tragic situation because it is prevalent in our society.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
“Are you closing?”
The call came out of the blue. A pantry management person I never, ever hear from called: “Are you closing your pantry? I heard this and I’m not the kind of person to spread gossip, so I’m asking you personally.”
“No. No, the Reservoir Food Pantry is not planning to close” I replied. Actually, I’ve been having people call me for almost a year asking if we’re closing. I always ask everyone who approaches me: ” Who did you hear this from?”
“I don’t remember, Thurman.”
“Well, I sure wish I could get someone to spill the beans because I’d love to call that person up and find out what started this whole rumor.”
If I’ve had this conversation once, I’ve had it a dozen times over the past few months. So, here for all the world to read, is the bald truth. The Reservoir Food Pantry is not closing. Actually, we’re growing like a weed.
Every Monday morning Prasida and Francine go to Latham and return with all the produce they can haul back in our long line van. They, Bob Overton, Garrett O’Dell, and Susanne Traub put it out on tables and serve it to the shoppers. By 4:00, there is usually none left. Fruits, vegetables, pies, cakes, meat, fish, yogurt, eggs, …it’s all gone.
We serve about 100 families every Monday afternoon at 2:00. On Tuesdays and Fridays we deliver food to another approximate 50 home bound households.
We have an annual mailing in which we ask the community to support us financially in our efforts.
We are at the entrances of the Kingston Walmart one weekend every month asking shoppers to help us feed the hungry.
Every other month we are at the entrance to the Boiceville IGA on a Saturday as well.
We recently opened a Capital Building account at the bank.
We are actively involved in disaster preparation activities.
The volunteers of the Reservoir Food Pantry are a group of committed individuals focused on feeding the hungry as a way of celebrating the amazing abundance which is available in our country. Only in the good old U S of A could there be this much food available…just for bringing to pantries.
We are:
your tax dollars at work.
an environmental effort as we intercept food bound for the landfill and bring it to the pantry for distribution.
working together to feed the hungry.
looking for a larger space that is located above the flood plain.
extremely grateful for the opportunity we have to feed the hungry in the Ashokan Reservoir area.
It is an honor and a pleasure for us to be in Boiceville in the little red shed behind Robert’s Auction.
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www.reflexologyforthespirit.com
www.goodmorningwoodstock.com
www.sugarsecurity.com
my.Benefits.ny.gov
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
An Open Letter to Senator George A. Amedore, Jr.
Dear Senator Amedore
It was so nice to receive your recent letter, Senator Amedore, explaining what the 2015 New York State Budget will mean to me. As a senior living in Ulster County who manages the Reservoir Food Pantry in Boiceville, New York, I am extremely aware of struggles of Ulster County seniors. As you wrote, seniors “have spent their lives and careers here in the 46th Senate District deserve to be able to afford to retire here and enjoy their golden years in the communities they’ve called home for so many years.”
Senator Amedore, I have thought exactly the same thing many times as I distribute a 3-day-supply of food to seniors who don’t have enough $$$ to buy sufficient food with their social security checks.
In your letter, you listed several programs receiving funding that seniors rely upon:
Community Services for the Elderly
Alzheimer’s Programs
LifeSpan for Elderly Abuse, Education, and Outreach
New York Foundation for Senior Home Sharing and Respite
Senior Action Council Hotline
EPIC Program
Enhanced STAR
On behalf of the seniors from your district shopping at food pantries, I thank you for including these services in your budget.
One thing missing in the lineup was any reference to food. This omission is entirely understandable. No one but the seniors understand what a struggle food is for this category of people in our population.
Grocery shopping for the elderly is difficult under the best of circumstances. Getting to the grocery store can be challenging for older people – especially for those living in a food desert. Getting around in the parking lot and going up and down the grocery store aisles is no fun anymore. And, when they can’t find what they need and afford, they have to maneuver the muddy parking lot and the scary entrance ramp of our pantry. And…we haven’t even discussed the packages yet. They’ve got to be gotten home and in the kitchen.
Finally, getting high quality, affordable food is more and more difficult as the days go by. And, it’s even more difficult for those seniors who no longer drive or own a working automobile.
In Ulster County, many seniors residents living in rural areas of the county live in a food desert and are miles from a grocery store offering fresh fruits and vegetables. Volunteers at the Reservoir Food Pantry deliver food packages weekly to approximately 40 households composed of transportation challenged people…many of whom are seniors. Some of these people have no working stoves in their homes.
Many seniors in our pantry line would certainly qualify for SNAP – even in it’s current reduced condition. However, they lack the wherewithal to get qualified. For one thing, it’s a good half hour down Route 28. For another, they are sometimes afraid. They’re afraid of the forms, the humiliation of being unable to survive on their own in the last years of their lives. They are afraid of the long wait in a building they may not even be able to find. In short, they find the whole process threatening.
Seniors struggle for food. Actually, they struggle for what I call “the Big 3”: food, housing, and medical expenses. Forget the extras like clothing. Many seniors get less, pay more, and go without. When seniors don’t get enough to eat (and many do not), they have a tendency to get sick which creates a hardship for their children and grandchildren.
Healthcare costs can be devastating, even to a senior with Medicare. Once a person comes down with cancer or other major disease, the pocketbook empties pretty fast.
In the past, food pantries focused on shoppers in a specific location. We now serve the people who can get to us during our open hours.
At Reservoir Food Pantry, fresh vegetables are important. We recently scrounged $$$ together and bought a used long line van which volunteers drive weekly to Latham for as much produce as we can bring back. We routinely run out.
Our situation is precarious, Senator Amedore. We joke that we’re teetering on homelessness ourselves because we’re housed in a shed on a flood plain. The shed is fine. We’re desperately trying to find a place to move it to so we’ll be out of the flood plain. So far, we’ve had no luck.
-But enough of our woes, Senator Amedore. Thank you for including me in your mailing list. Thank you for the work you are doing for seniors in New York State. Thank you for sharing.
When you’re in your Kingston office on a Monday afternoon, you have an open invitation to visit our pantry. We’ll be honored and pleased to show you around our 12’x16′ shed. We serve over 140 households weekly from this shed. Most of them are seniors.
We do hope you’ll come. We promise the tour won’t take long because our pantry is small. However, the photos will be many and the seniors will be grateful.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
P.S.-If you ever need any human interest stories, I have many, many, many, and I’m happy to share.
www.nysenior.org
www.myBenefits.ny.gov
www.nysenate.gov/senator/george-amedore
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Other blogs by Thurman Greco:
www.reflexologyforthespirit.com
www.goodmorningwoodstock.com
www.sugarsecurity.com
7 Ways We Use Food Pantries
Food Pantries feed the hungry…and very successfully at that, actually. After all, there are very few stories right now about starving people dying in the streets. We Food Pantry volunteers can pat ourselves on the back for that, at least.
But, so much more happens in a Food Pantry beyond feeding the hungry.
For starters, thousands of volunteers are kept gainfully occupied and off the streets as we (wo)man the pantries.
The United States Department of Agriculture disposes of thousands and thousands of pounds of surplus foods every year in Food Pantries. Unfortunately, though, the USDA seems to have a somewhat embarrassed attitude about the distribution of agricultural surpluses. Anybody who thinks about it quickly realizes that it’s impossible to grow just exactly what we need every year. It’s much better to have too much than too little. So, the USDA needs the Food Pantries to dispose of this surplus. Sure beats hauling it off to the landfill.
Thank you USDA! I just wish you felt better about the job you do.
Supermarkets use Food Pantries to dispose of food they can’t sell. By donating produce,
baked goods,
meats,
packaged shelf staples,
grocers avoid dump fees, discourage dumpster divers, accrue tax savings, and tell the world about how many thousands of dollars they donated to feed the hungry.
Churches throughout this country feed the hungry in Food Pantries located in their basements. That is, all except for the famous St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco where Sara Miles put the pantry on the altar. She subsequently wrote a book about it entitled “Take This Bread”. I hope you get a chance to read it.
Congregations label their Food Pantries as outreach but I don’t buy into that concept. What we’re all doing, really, is celebrating the enormous abundance existing in this country…in this world…on this planet.
Environmentalists use Food Pantries to divert food bound for the landfill. It’s amazing when you think about it. Several million people in our country are prevented from starving to death when they shop at a Food Pantry and take home produce, dairy products, meats, baked goods, shelf staples that would otherwise have ended up at the landfill.
Schools throughout our fair nation distribute food to children to take home on the weekend. The Backpack Programs offer food to children who have none in their households.
It’s a real ego trip for whole segments of our society. Everyone feels all warm and fuzzy about food donated to Food Banks. This includes farmers, grocers, food manufacturers, restaurants, bakers, religious and civic institutions feeding the hungry, and, of course, the people who read the stories about the generosity of these businesses.
This warm and fuzzy feeling we all get when we realize which businesses are contributing to feeding the hungry rubs off positively on Food Banks. They, thankfully, are very influential charities as a result. Food Banks rank right up there with hospitals, the United Way, and the Y.
And, it’s all good. Food Banks need the $$$ to keep the whole industry going. The demand for the food keeps growing and growing because the minimum wage jobs don’t pay enough $$$ to allow workers to buy groceries. SNAP benefits get whittled away each year. There’s not much left except the Food Pantry.
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http://teamnutrition.usda.gov
www.feedingamerica.org/officialsite
www.reservoirfoodpantry.org
Thurman Greco
I Have a Question
“When I drive down Route 28 on Monday, I see a lot of cars at your pantry. I see many people. I have some food pantry questions. Are they from our area?”
My answer: “Yes, they are from our area.”
But, that’s not the right question and it’s certainly not the right answer. The correct answer is that we serve everyone who manages to make it to our pantry…no matter where they’re from.
In our country now, in the U. S. of A., we have people who are hungry. Many of these people work. Many hold down 2-3 minimum wage jobs. Even with these jobs, their minimum wage pay checks don’t have any $$$ for food. So, they come to a pantry for food.
They come to the pantry they can get to…not the one in their neighborhood. And, the reason for that makes a lot of sense. If they live off Route 28 but work in Cairo on Monday, they’ll never make it to the Boiceville pantry on Monday before it closes.
When I worked in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock, there was a volunteer who didn’t agree with this philosophy. A hungry man from Shandaken got a ride into Woodstock and stood in line for food.
The volunteer denied him food. He went away hungry. He came to Woodstock for food because he didn’t have a car and his ride brought him to Woodstock.
Pantries serve the people who can make it to their pantry. At Reservoir Food Pantry we also serve food to home bound households where the residents are transportation challenged.
It’s not where the hungry live that determines what pantry they use. It’s what pantry they can get to.
Food pantries and soup kitchens are our tax dollars at work. The government has decided the hungry should not starve to death. The government has chosen food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and halfway houses as places for the hungry to get food.
We don’t ask the address of any of the hungry in our line. Nor do we care.
Our job is plain and simple: to feed the hungry.
For the most part, the food that we serve is food that was destined for the landfill. Most pantry volunteers are just that…unpaid workers concerned about our neighbors, relatives, friends who are not getting enough to eat.
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Are you working but having a hard time making ends meet? Check your eligibility for a range of benefits and apply for food assistance at:
myBenefits.ny.gov
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
An Open Letter to Susan Zimet
Dear Ms. Zimet:
Thank you for speaking at the Hunger Conference in Latham on April 11th. You, as well as the other speakers, know the subject well and obviously care about the hunger struggle that many of your constituents face every day.
Thank you for accepting the position of Executive Director of Hunger Action Network New York State. Your energy, intelligence, and savvy attitude will boost the ripple effect of this organization to a new level…something New York State needs.
Finally, thank you for your openness at the conference. When you spoke about young graduates moving in with their parents because they can’t get jobs to pay off their student loans, you were speaking openly about a situation which many are trying to keep quiet.
New found poverty is sometimes a subject which people don’t shout about because they’re embarrassed. The symptoms of this newly found situation are often covered up because the people experiencing it are asking themselves “Where did I go wrong? What did I not do that I should have done?”
I have a name for those in this situation, Ms. Zimet. I call them the Struggling Poor.
We’re experiencing the same phenomena in our part of Ulster County also. Over here in Boiceville, it’s manifesting itself in different ways:
Seniors who never, ever thought about food pantries are now finding themselves in the food pantry line on Monday afternoons at 2:00.
Working people are struggling to buy groceries. They, too, are meeting at the pantry on Mondays at 2:00 if a family members is off work at that time.
Food pantries in the past focused on shoppers in a specific geographic location. We now serve the people who can get to us. Some pantries in cities are open until midnight to serve those who get off work at 11:00 p.m.
And, pantries have our own struggle for food. At Reservoir Food Pantry, fresh vegetables are important. We scrounged $$$ and bought a long line van which volunteers drive weekly to Latham for as much produce as we can bring back. We routinely run out of this fresh food at the end of every pantry shift.
Our situation is precarious, Ms. Zimet. We joke that we’re teetering on homelessness ourselves because we’re in a shed on a food plain. The shed part is fine. We’re desperately trying to find a place to move it where we’re out of a flood plain. So far, we’ve had no luck. The Olive Flood Advisory Committee, Woight Engineering, and the Town Board are doing the best they can with what we all have. But, the writing is on the wall. So far, we’ve had no luck.
But, enough of our woes Ms. Zimet. Thank you for attending the conference. Thank you for speaking. Thank you, very much, for sharing your energy which seems to know no bounds.
If ever you’re in the Ashokan Reservoir area on a Monday afternoon, please visit our pantry. We’ll be honored and pleased give you a tour of our 12’x16’shed. If ever you need a human interest story, I have many to share. I’ve been working in a food pantry for almost 10 years.
Peace and food for all.
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Thurman Greco
www.hungeractionnys.org
