Working in a Small Upstate Community
The little bright green flier on the counter in Bread Alone read: “Business Closing”. The message for us? Make it over to the book store across from the library and buy what never sold during the summer.
THE CUTE LITTLE SHOP NEXT TO THE WINE STORE HAS 12-INCH HIGH ‘FOR RENT’ LETTERS IN THE WINDOW.
BMG GALLERY, AFTER MANY, MANY YEARS MOVED TO BEARSVILLE. My guess is that he’s found a web business niche. But I don’t know that. Anyway, he’s gone and in the gallery now is a bright red-and-white dream named “Woodstock Workplace”.
On the plus side, the corner deli which closed months ago is being refurbished and transformed into an upscale take out place called “Shindig”.
The boutique next door to Joshua’s appears to be in the process of rebirth with a small sign announcing “Little House”.
Also important: The 3 new businesses are still not real estate offices. Real estate offices are wonderful and, over the years, have kept Woodstock thriving with many weekend owners. But, a new deli or boutique will help keep the walking tourists coming for the other businesses still struggling along.
EVERY AUTUMN, WHEN THE LEAVES TURN GORGEOUS COLORS, I LOOK AROUND TOWN TO SEE WHICH BUSINESSES WILL CLOSE. This exercise begins, actually, in the summer. I watch the tourists flock to Woodstock. I never notice what they look like, how old or wealthy they appear, or where they seem to come from. What I see is how many shopping bags they carry as they walk along the street and shop.
On any given day, the most popular product sold in Woodstock seems to be the ice cream at Taco Juan’s. Go Taco Juan!
Michael B. Katz, in his book “The Undeserving Poor” writes about ghettos.
A ghetto is a place where residents leave town for the job they do and buy what they need outside where they live. The wages they bring home are not enough to accumulate.
MUCH OF THE MONEY, RICHES, GOODS, IN A GHETTO BELONG TO OUTSIDERS WHO CONTROL THE LOCAL BUSINESSES. Profits are exported.
While I realize most of the people I know in Woodstock are from somewhere else, I also realize many, many wealthy people have homes in Woodstock. Some of those people even bank in Woodstock. If you don’t believe me, look around at the three banks. Two of them just completed the most extravagant improvements they could imagine on their newly acquired buildings. It was a contest between Ulster Savings Bank and Mid Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union. I think the credit union won.
But, whoever spent the most is unimportant. What’s important here is that a few local residents had jobs for awhile as the upgrades were applied: carpenters, plumbers, pavers, landscapers, painters, security equipment specialists, …
WOODSTOCK IS A COMMUNITY BOASTING THAT OVER HALF OF ITS RESIDENTS ARE WEEKENDERS. They have primary residences elsewhere and leave Woodstock to accumulate more of the wealth they use to live here.
Woodstock is also comfortable for the over-50 crowd. We, many of us, came to Woodstock with our pensions, nest eggs, stock, bonds, and worldly possessions.
PANTRY EXPERIENCE TAUGHT ME THERE IS ALSO A GROUP, A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE IN WOODSTOCK WORKING FULL-TIME, YEAR-ROUND, FOR POVERTY-LEVEL WAGES. The basic productive resource of our community, which is gained outside Woodstock, is this labor.
THOSE FORTUNATE TO HAVE JOBS IN WOODSTOCK ARE OFTEN PAID “OFF THE BOOKS”. If they’re lucky, they’re paid “half on and half off”. They make enough money to pay the rent and buy the gas to get to the jobs. There is no over time, no retirement fund, no health insurance.
DESPITE THAT, THEY’RE LUCKY. How can a person survive, let alone thrive, in this situation? It takes 2 steady paychecks just to live indoors.
I don’t know how many employed people in our area are homeless. I’ve read some statistics on the subject but I don’t believe them because I know how difficult it is to get even close to an accurate count. My guestimate is that 10% of the poverty level employed are homeless.
Don’t quote me on that percentage. For that matter, don’t quote anyone else either.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please leave a comment.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
In Search Of
Diane slowly walked the two blocks to the pantry every Thursday morning to work in the hallway a couple of hours until she got enough energy to walk home. “Don’t forget your roll of toilet paper, Judith. We’ve got hand cream today. Can you use that or would you prefer tooth paste?”
When she finally couldn’t work in the hallway anymore we had no one for the station, so we relied on Robyn who gracefully sat in front of the Items of Dignity closet and helped shoppers choose needed items. She lived in nearby Mt. Tremper. Her living situation seemed to be somewhat precarious because every few months she looked for a new place to live. I think she lived in her car a couple of times.
During shopping lulls, Robyn addressed envelope after envelope after envelope for the fundraising letters we sent out several times each year. So, really, Robyn worked two jobs in the hallway: Items of Dignity and Fundraising.
One afternoon Robyn came to my home. “Phoebe died yesterday Thurman. I need a place to bury her.” We found a quiet place in my garden under a Japanese Willow. She and Barry dug a grave and placed her beloved cat, wrapped in a rug, in the freshly dug earth. After sprinkling dirt over Phoebe, Barry emptied a large bag of mulch over the grave. I offered a prayer.
The next morning, as I walked by the area, I saw a cross and a little bouquet of flowers on the grave.
Leticia, our 99-pound wonder, seems to the casual observer not to be a candidate for heavy lifting. However, she shows up on Tuesday mornings ready for shelving action. A retired teacher, she doesn’t stock shelves. She packs them. No box is too large, No case is too heavy. A tiny Latina whirlwind, Leticia gives energy to all of us.
Our pantry shed is small so we rely on her expertise to have enough food available for the shoppers on pantry day. When Leticia finishes packing a shelf, we can’t even get a paper clip in the extra space. Go Leticia!
No one wakes up one day and says “I think I’ll go down to the local food pantry and volunteer”. People spending time in pantries, either as volunteers or shoppers, travel down a path to get there. For the most part, the people seek healing on some level:
A job has disappeared and they need a grounding activity as they seek the next job.
They need a respite from another situation.
They need to heal from an illness.
They seek connection to the community.
Food Pantries and Food Banks everywhere rely on the support and dedication of friends and neighbors to keep doors open. When you volunteer to feed the hungry, you share time and talents. Your skills are vital to our mission.
No matter where you live, be it Upstate New York, Southern California or anywhere in between, there’s a Food Pantry or a Food Bank nearby with volunteer opportunities. Chances are pretty good that your schedule can be met. Get involved! You’ll make a difference.
At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we need people to:
organize a food or fund drive during the year to benefit the many households we serve,
drive packages of food to home bound people,
work in the pantry during opening hours,
help prepare mailers which will go out several times during the year (This activity happens during pantry hours at the Reservoir Food Pantry),
work in our new thrift shop.
Volunteers working at the Reservoir Food Pantry, or at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York in Latham, or the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley in Cornwall-on-Hudson, come from all walks of life:
students,
seniors,
business people,
church members,
service organizations.
If you know an employee in an area school, we are looking to organize a school food drive for the Reservoir Food Pantry.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact us:
Mary Mazur 518-786-3691×268 is the volunteer coordinator at the Regional Food Bank in Latham.
Jessica Fetonti, 845-534-5344 is at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley in Cornwall.
Thurman Greco, 845-399-3967 is at the Reservoir Food Pantry.
Now is the best season of the year to volunteer at a Food Pantry or Food Bank. Everyone at these facilities is gearing up for the holiday feeding season so people are needed to sort food for distribution to food pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. Join in the fun, building teamwork, and giving back to the community all at the same time.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social network.
Please leave a comment.
Don’t forget to join the mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
An Open Letter to the Members of the Olive Town Board
We had a wonderful day in the pantry last Monday:
Beautiful weather,
Gorgeous produce,
Generous canned goods from the Food Bank on brand new shelves in our shed just down the hill from the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
WE BEGAN OUR JOURNEY UP THE HILL IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. You’ll never know how much it meant to us to be in the parking lot up the hill. We spent months looking at every available empty space along 28. We went over to Olivebridge even, looking to see what was over there.
Several places would have made gorgeous pantries…except for the rent. We just didn’t have what it takes (and still don’t have), to pay the rent.
I was about to give up and just realize that we were destined to be a take-out pantry forever…until you came up with the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
SO, WE WENT FOR IT. We set up tables under canopies in the parking lot. We moved a bit closer to Route 28 each week because of the wind on the hill. By the time Beecher Smith agreed to share his space with us, we were almost to the road.
BUT FOR YOUR GENEROSITY, WE WOULD HAVE NEVER GOTTEN A SPACE. We’re eternally grateful. We’re feeding people; serving more seniors than the adults and children combined. Half of the households we feed are home bound.
We are definitely tax dollars at work. And, we don’t waste even one penny.
WHEN WE FEED PEOPLE IN THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY AREA, WE STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AS WE ASSIST THE MOST VULNERABLE.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please send a comment.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Don’t forget to join the mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Food Pantry Blog – Paying It Forward.
For a little over a year now, we’ve asked…and you’ve answered:
We sent out letters last year about this time to congregations in the area. Wesleyan Community Church and West Hurley Reformed Church offered food drives and donations.
The Zen Mountain Monastery sponsored us while we processed the 501(c)3 application.
John Parete houses our Take Out Department.
Beecher Smith hosts our shed on his property and allows us to use his parking lot.
The Wastewater Treatment Plant hosted our canopied pantry all summer as we worked from their beautiful parking lot .
The Olivebridge Library allowed us to schedule speeches to help spread the word.
JOMA lets us hold our board meetings there monthly.
Brad Bernard from the Community Bank is on our board.
Pieta Williams and the Ulster County Board of Realtors Community Service Committee donated Items of Dignity to our pantry.
Board members stand outside the entrance to the Boiceville IGA one Saturday every other month. Everyone shopping on that day shares something with us. Every bit of this food goes to our Take Out department where volunteers prepare packages for home bound households.
The Kingston Walmart hosts us for 3 days every month. The generosity of the shoppers is mind blowing. Again, 100% of this food goes to feed home bound residents.
Esotec Beverages shares its upscale beverages with our pantry. These foods go to our home bound people.
Migliorelli Farms shares produce every week.
Shandaken Gardens delivers produce weekly.
Ulster Corps volunteers bring produce over from gleaning projects.
Finally, after a year and almost a month, everything came together this week. Our pantry is open, it’s operational, everything works, and it’s wonderful! Board Members got the shed/pantry and outfitted it with lights, heat, an entrance ramp.
Today’s pantry shift was a day out of a dream. Everything flowed beautifully. With your support, with community support, we are on a venture that I never, ever dreamed was possible.
Monday afternoon we opened the pantry about 30 minutes early.
And, why not? We were ready. The produce was in. The shelves were stocked. The shoppers were there.
READY. SET. GO.
One senior in 7 does not have enough to eat. We serve more seniors at the Reservoir Food Pantry than we serve adults and children combined. We strengthen the entire community as we assist those who are most vulnerable among us.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
We Got Electricity in the Reservoir Food Pantry!
A lot happened last Saturday. While some volunteers worked at the Boiceville IGA food drive, others were working on the shed:
Wiring installation was completed.
Trak lighting went into the ceiling.
The new second-hand cold case now has a place next to the shelving so we’ll have a place for yogurt and other foods needing refrigeration.
The desk was moved out of the pantry to the new office area.
LET’S CELEBRATE THE FUTURE OF THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY TOGETHER.
While that might not seem like such a big deal for a country pantry shed, it’s a huge event for the coordinator trying to make us winter ready. All in all, it was glorious! After celebrating our first birthday only a couple of weeks ago, we’re thrilled to begin our new year with a fully equipped pantry.
One year ago, we had nothing but a dream. I’m amazed…amazed at what a group of volunteers have accomplished.
We’re ready now. We’re energetic. We’ve got a pantry. We’ve got shoppers. We’ve got volunteers. We’ve got food. We’ve got shelving. We’ve got an entrance ramp. We’ve got heat. We’ve got a refrigerator. We’re hopeful for what is to come. We look forward to a busy and prosperous year as we offer a 3-day-supply of food to hungry people in the area. We strengthen the entire community as we feed the most vulnerable.
PLEASE SHOW US YOUR SUPPORT. Let us know you care about the Reservoir Food Pantry.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Please send a donation to Reservoir Food Pantry, P O Box 245, Boiceville, NY 12412
Don’t forget to join our mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program
Food for today, hope for tomorrow.
LOCATED RIGHT IN THE HEART OF BRUNSWICK, MAINE, is a hustling, bustling food pantry/soup kitchen, backpack program, mobile pantry, clothes closet/ furniture distribution center.
It’s easy to find – just go behind Hannaford’s to a group of modern, spacious buildings which were the result of a capital fund campaign about ten years ago. This pantry is nice enough to be the envy of many pantries I’ve seen. It was well planned and appears to be well maintained.
ATMOSPHERE – small town busy. Everyone appears to be grateful to be there. The pantry opens at 11:00 on Monday mornings. Wednesday mornings, Friday mornings, and Saturdays. The soup kitchen is open also so shoppers can get groceries and a meal at the same time.
SERVICE – Shoppers visit the pantry twice monthly. The first pantry week of the month offers each household a banana box of staples. The second pantry day offers a selection of fresh, refrigerated, and frozen vegetables and dairy products which are distributed by client choice.
SOUND LEVEL – The sound level is deceiving. There is a lot going on in this building but the noise level is quite low.
FOOD OFFERED – The selection depends quite a bit on the donations but on the day I visited, there were many gorgeous fresh vegetables to choose from: zucchini, bok choi, lettuce, beets. There was a small selection of yogurt and a good selection of bottled, refrigerated juices and milk. Bread was abundantly available in the pantry room itself as well as on a table in the hallway.
HOURS – This pantry opens Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Each distribution day is about four hours long.
USUAL WAIT TIME – Although shoppers were outside the building before the pantry opened, the wait time is not long.
HANDICAP ACCESS – Yes
TO DONATE TO THIS PANTRY – Send a check to Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, Inc., 84A Union Street, Brunswick, Maine, 04011. If you want to make a food donation, the actual location is also 84A Union Street.
PANTRY AFFILIATION – To my knowledge, this pantry is a secular facility.
FINALLY – This pantry/soup kitchen is a lovely facility operated by by over 250 caring staff and volunteers. This is definitely one operation which strengthens the entire community which it serves by feeding those who are the most vulnerable.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media outlet.
Please send a comment.
Don’t forget to join our mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Kingston has a new Farm Stand!
How long has it been since –
you bit into a juicy, delicious peach?
you ate a gorgeous red apple?
had a piece of homemade apple pie?
had a serving of home cooked beets?
Wait no more!
Fresh fruits and vegetables (picked on Monday), are now distributed Tuesday mornings in the parking lot of People’s Place Food Pantry and Thrift Store at the corner of St. James and Broadway in Kingston, New York.
This is the new paradigm at work! Anyone can get the food. Just be there when it opens at 10 on Tuesday mornings. No questions are asked. No identification is necessary. Take this delicious, nutritious food home, prepare it how you want, and eat it.
A new project of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, People’s Place was chosen as the first Farm Stand in Ulster County because
it’s got that generous parking lot,
it’s in a grocery store desert,
it’s in Kingston.
Last week, the first week ever for the Farm Stand, brought 565 people to enjoy this gorgeous food. It was, every bit of it, fresh food, grown in our own Hudson Valley.
Our tax dollars at work in the 21st century.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Don’t forget to join the mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greo
“Can I volunteer in your pantry tomorrow?”
“If you’ve seen one homeless person, you’ve seen one homeless person.” – Thurman Greco
“Can I volunteer in your pantry tomorrow? I know about food and can help you.” The man standing before me was short and sturdy, with a gray pony tail…a typical homeless person if I ever saw one. He wore secondhand store denim and had not one ounce of extra weight on him. His boots and backpack were in good condition but definitely not new.
HIS REQUEST REEKED OF HUMBLE. This man had humble down sooo well. Humble is important when a person is homeless and mentally together. The police hassle homeless people so they learn skills to stay out of jail.
A very lose friend of mine, Paul Schmeltzer, once explained two important skills a homeless person needs: the ability to be humble and the ability to remember names and dates flawlessly. Paul could tell me what corner of what city he sat on at 2:15 in the afternoon on the last Friday in August, 2010. “These skills are necessary for a homeless person because if s/he can’t be humble and remember details, then jail time is in the near future”.
For those homeless with mental health issues, details like humble, coherency, an exacting memory are extremely challenging.
But, back to the story.
CAN YOU WORK IN MY PANTRY TOMORROW? How did you know all my volunteers have prior commitments tomorrow? I got excited! I’ve fed over 100 people by myself before, many times. But, volunteers help. Help is help. My pay grade is the absolute lowest in town.
“SURE,’ I SAID. “Love to have you. When you say you know food, what do you have in mind?”
“I’m a vegan. I know about produce. I’ll prep all your fresh food tomorrow.”
Sure, whatever that means. “Great. I’ll see you tomorrow. By the way, my name is Thurman.”
“And, I’m Arlen. Pleased to meet you, Thurman.” With that we shook hands and off he went.
The next day, Arlen walked into the pantry just as I finished stuffing two van loads of fresh produce into the tiny room. Pretty well gone was humble. In its place was a person who obviously knows and loves good quality food. He went to work.
First, he hauled all the boxes of produce back outside the building to the sidewalk where most of the pantry shoppers would wait to get into the building. Then, he arranged the food. Just. So. He made a workstation for himself as he assembled a large, black, heavy duty plastic bag for the inedible produce. A box turned upside down became a prep center, and the produce was neatly placed around him.
Starting with the carrots, he picked up a bunch, carefully removed the tops, then arranged them for shoppers to select from.
He divided bananas into 3 groups: rotten bananas to be discarded, bananas to be used for cooking, and those fresh enough to eat raw. And so he continued until he had prepped, graded, and arranged every fruit and vegetable delivered to the pantry in the vans that day. Arlen examined every leaf, stem, item in every box. He discarded the trash, he arranged all edible fruits and vegetables in gorgeous stacks.
Shoppers in the pantry that afternoon went home (to wherever or whatever that was) with perfect produce: no yellow leaves, no soft spots, no bruises, no tops. Everything was ready to prepare…just as if it had been bought in Gracie Balducci’s or Whole Foods. WOW.
Once, during the pantry food distribution, I quickly went outside the building to check on Arlen…just to see how things were going. “Buenas tardes, Senora. Cual frutas necessitas hoy?”
What? I heard Spanish! Arlen was speaking with a shopper in her native tongue. By the end of the pantry day, he spoke with shoppers in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Haitian, Italian, Creole. Arlen was entertaining everyone.
I knew I was going to be taken to the woodshed for allowing the food distribution at the entrance to the building but it was such a gift to the shoppers to receive this beautiful food and to speak their native tongues that I figured early on that I would take the anger and press on.
AND, I DID AND IT WAS WORTH IT. Every bit of it! Months later, they still hadn’t gotten over Arlen’s visit.
Actually, it was visits.
From that point on, whenever Arlen came to town, he worked in the pantry. He made us all feel we were special because our pantry was vegetarian.
Each homeless person is a special personality and has a special situation which s/he deals with.
So, how is Arlen homeless? Well, he moves around a lot and has a selection of friends who host him when he’s in the area. When Arlen arrives, there’s always a flurry of activity because he participates in all the events. Arlen assembled tents and kept the grounds clean when we had our first pantry music festival. .
When Holly Post, his Woodstock hostess, put her house on the market to move to Rosendale, Arlen was upset. “Holly’s got her house on the market and we’re moving to Rosendale” he said with feeling. Wherever Holly goes, Arlen is going too. I’m sure that, although Arlen will miss Woodstock, he and Rosendale will love each other.
Thank you for reading this book/blog.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Reservoir Food Pantry Begins Its Second Year
We’re STILL here! And, we’re doing better than ever.
Monday was a landmark day at the pantry. Last Monday, we moved our tables and chairs away from the parking lot of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and set up in our new shed.
WE’RE IN AN ADORABLE RED SHED WHICH IS PERFECT FOR US. We’re all so excited about this step forward. Our address is the same. The clients are the same. The food is the same. The only thing that’s different is the building. We’re distributing food from the building. We’re now indoors.
We all loved being outdoors last summer and may return there this coming summer. However, it’ll be nice to be working indoors over the winter.
As I opened the door of the shed, my thoughts were filled with trepidation. I had no idea what was going to happen or how the shed would be received by volunteers and shoppers. There was also a real question about whether or not the place would even work or not.
Well, shame on me. I shouldn’t have bothered. The whole pantry shift went off without a hitch:
Everyone was able to find the pantry shed even though it’s totally hidden from the road.
We were all able to get into the shed in spite of the step up. The few shoppers with mobility issues had no problem at all.
I was worried that the food wouldn’t fit. Well, that was a waste of time. The shed totally absorbed our entire monthly shipment as if it was just nothing. We weren’t the least bit overfull.
Sponsors who brought produce to our pantry had absolutely no problem bringing it to the shed. We get food from Migliorelli, Bread Alone, Shandaken Gardens, and Huguenot Street Farm every week. Everyone found us.
And, finally, we didn’t get any complaints about the shed being too small. It’s not too small. It’s perfect!
I send a heartfelt message of gratitude to everyone who worked to make this shed a reality. Bonnie, Sean, and Prasida chose the building after searching “high and lo” for just the right one. The board supported our shed with a unanimous vote. The Town of Olive had no problem with our idea and gave us a permit with no delay.
The only thing we’re missing still is the electricity. But, that’s coming. We didn’t need it Monday but we’ll be needing it when it gets colder.
The Reservoir Food Pantry couldn’t be more perfect. Thank you everyone who has helped make this pantry possible.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Don’t forget to sign the mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
What? You’re STILL Here!
Can you believe it? We’re STILL here!
Reservoir Food Pantry celebrated its first anniversary yesterday with an open house at our pantry shed behind Robert’s Auction in Boiceville. Even with the wet weather, we had more guests than I ever imagined would come by! We celebrated our new shed and now will begin to distribute food from this place beginning Monday afternoon at 2:00.
On September 9, 2013, a band of four people who barely knew each other embarked on an adventure. By the time we had our open house, we had fed 2810 households composed of 1874 adults, 2315 seniors, and 747 children.
THAT SAYS IT ALL.
But, wait! Look at those numbers a bit. We fed more seniors than we did the adults and children combined.
OKAY NOW, THAT SAYS IT ALL.
The 501(c)3 application was a joint effort with Sean putting in about 95% of the work. This was a successful first project. We received our approval!
I guided us through the Food Bank process. We’ve been an agency for several months now and, on July 1, 2014, we became eligible for a HPNAP line of credit offering food for the growing number of hungry shoppers.
Prasida tracked the funds from the very beginning.
Bonnie became the writer for all our activities including taking meeting minutes and writing press releases.
Bonnie, Sean, and Prasida inspected every empty building along Route 28 in the Ashoken Reservoir area. Many were perfect for our needs except for the rent. We simply couldn’t afford what they asked.
FINALLY, TOWNSPEOPLE CAME TO OUR RESCUE:
John Parete is extremely generous with his restaurant. Most of the people on our homebound list are fed from stock kept in the “Bodega”. We have a freezer and refrigerator there also. And, (very importantly), no one minds if we bring in food throughout the week. John always greets us with a smile and is donating the space. The only flaw in this scenario was that we didn’t ask him sooner.
The Wastewater Treatment Plant people in tandem with the Olive Town Board is supportive. We drive up to the parking lot on Mondays as if we own the place. And, for the short time we’re there, we really do own the parking lot. It’s a squatter’s rights kind of thing.
Beecher Smith is generously sharing his property behind the Robert’s Auction so we can have our sheds. We simply cannot distribute food from the parking lot through freezing temperatures and snowfalls.
FRESH FOODS COME FROM FAR AND WIDE:
Bread Alone
Migliorelli Farm
Shandaken Gardens
Huguenot Street Farm
Food Bank of Northeastern New York
Prasida and Francine drive up to the Food Bank every Monday morning for food. We distribute this food as if we’re at the entrance to the Versailles. As far as I’m concerned, we are at the entrance to the Versailles.
Canned, dried, and boxed goods come from the Food Bank. Volunteers have food drives at the Boiceville IGA one Saturday every other month. Monthly food drives are held at the entrance to the Kingston Walmart. Members of the Wesleyan Church had a food drive for us at Christmas.
Esotec beverages is generous with periodic donations of juices and other beverages.
Food from the Food Bank is recycled. The produce, dairy, and bread given to us at Latham is all on its way to the landfill when it gets diverted and sent to the Food Bank, then on to pantries, shelters, half way houses. The canned goods are diverted at the grocery store from the landfill. Cans are dented. Many are outdated. Some have no labels anymore.
As more people find us, 2015 promises to be more eventful than 2014. Each week, people walk, ride bicycles, drive cars to get to our pantry. It’s time to focus on developing systems and procedures given to me by my superiors at the Food Bank.
Most people who shop at our pantry are Resource Poor. They routinely choose between food and rent, food and medical expenses, food and transportation. Resource poor are also food insecure. They lack, at times, enough food for an active, healthy life for the household members. Food insecurity comes in 2 categories:
Food Insecure
Very Low Food Security
When we talk very low food security, we know some have limited access to grocery stores. Their food comes from gas station food markets, and convenience stores. I’m not running down gas stations and convenience stores. But it’s hard to find food that really nourishes there. Vegetables and fruits are scarce. When they are available, they’re expensive. Salt, grease, and sugar are in abundance. Fat is cheap, available, and filling.
The area surrounding the Reservoir Food Pantry is just such a place. A person, for example, living in Shokan is miles from the Boiceville IGA. This trip becomes very challenging if there is no car or other means of transportation.
Lack of transportation in the area makes for a very strong take out department. Many shoppers are unable to get to us. We’re seeking volunteers to pack and deliver food to yet more homebound households.
Disaster preparation looms large in our area – whether we’re ready or not. We’re the strongest pantry in the Reservoir area and may be called upon in the event of a disaster. The aftermath of Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy was difficult for this area. Many lost everything: home, job, car.
We are all grateful for the sponsorship of the Zen Mountain Monastery without which we would never have even gotten to first base. The ripple effect of this generosity is traveling far and wide through both space and time.
So…we’re still here. We hope to be here in the future. We plan to be here in the future.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Please send a comment.
Please sign up on the mailing list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Pea
We’re
