Do you work at a pantry? Do you shop at a pantry? Do you donate to a pantry? – Part 2
“Can I offer you some of this delicious celery? I noticed you just walked past it.”
“THANKS, BUT I CAN’T CHEW IT. I WISH I COULD.
A big challenge in the food pantry system is getting the food to the people that they can eat. Many things come into play here:
Dietary preferences
Health conditions
Religious guidelines
One challenge hardly ever mentioned is whether or not a person has teeth.
Once the teeth are gone, many foods are just not edible for a person. Take for example a simple food like bread. Our pantry has always been proud to serve Bread Alone Bread. Unfortunately, toothless people have trouble eating it. It’s not soft enough.
There are many fruits and vegetables which a toothless person cannot eat:
celery
radishes
apples
Pantries offering client choice make life easier for both the pantry and the shopper because people take what they can use.
Another consideration in choosing food for pantry shelves is the homeless person. The homeless person’s kitchen is in his/her shirt pocket so the selection is limited to
peanut butter
protein bars
cheese
carrot sticks.
Foods for the homeless include items
which can be eaten raw,
which don’t need either refrigeration or cooking,
which can be easily carried from place to place.
Once a person becomes homeless, s/he more or less automatically becomes hungry. For many homeless, eating is a challenge repeated at every meal. Some food pantries knowingly or unknowingly are not homeless friendly because
of the bureaucracy of the paperwork (How does one prove which bridge s/he lives under?),
of the lack of foods on the shelves acceptable to the homeless,
and because pantry coordinators, church boards, feel that food pantries are inappropriate for homeless people.
Whenever I ponder the obstacles to offering proper food to pantry shoppers, I find myself asking questions:
Why can’t:
food stamps be more generous?
wages be higher?
gas be cheaper?
rent be realistic?
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Do you work at a pantry? Do you shop at a pantry? Do you donate to a pantry? – Part 1
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
That question lives in the brain of every conscientious coordinator. It’s impossible to plan for pantry needs with confidence.
Much depends on a coordinator’s attitude. Some feel that all they need to do is get food on the shelves and if the food runs out, well, the food runs out and who cares anyway?
I NEVER BOUGHT THAT LINE.
The building committee of the Woodstock Reformed Church as well as some people in Woodstock felt it was my job to turn people away. They didn’t want too many people in the building and they didn’t want them getting too much food.
“How dare you serve this kind of food to these people?”
“How dare you serve this much food to these people?”
Some people felt shoppers should be limited in how often they could visit the pantry. Once weekly was considered too often. The idea was to prevent people from getting used to the idea of getting food at a pantry.
NO ONE SEEMED TO KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR FOOD.
Fortunately for me and for the hungry, the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program people stepped in with clear guidelines which appeared gradually over several years:
2005 – We were expected to offer 1% milk.
2008 – Pantries were expected to operate the client choice program.
2009 – Whole grain breads and cereals are to be served.
New York State requires that food pantries serve a minimum 3-day-supply of food for everyone in the household. This supply includes food for 3 meals each day for the 3 days. 50% of the food is to be fruits and vegetables. Each meal is to be composed of 3 of the 5 food groups.
Where pantries come up short in this scenario is the 3-day-supply deal. If we offer a 3-day-supply of food weekly to a family who is home bound or who is totally out of food money, the household will be taking a 3-day-supply of food and stretching it to 7.
If a person lives in an area with several pantries, it’s possible to visit 2 pantries for a week’s worth of food. This is difficult for a family with no funds because it costs more gas to get to 2 pantries. It’s also time consuming. A person doesn’t just run in to a pantry and pick up a few items. Lines are long. Waits are even longer. At Reservoir Food Pantry, we try to keep waits to a minimum by opening as soon as the pantry is set up. (This is usually about 1:00, even though the pantry opens at 2:00)
And what about the households in areas where the pantry only allows them to visit monthly?
“We don’t want these people depending on us for their food.”
“Pantries should only be available for occasional use.”
It’s extremely difficult to offer foods appropriate for everyone in a pantry. This week in the Reservoir Food Pantry, we offered the following choices:
1 cereal
raisins
instant mashed potatoes
canned beans
crackers
rice cakes
tomato base cooking sauce
canned fruit
canned vegetables
spaghetti
On the fresh side, we had eggplants, lemons, potatoes, kale, salad mix, papayas, bananas, onions. apples, pears, squash.
Produce came from Migliorelli’s, Shandaken Gardens, Ulster Corps gleaning, and the Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
Bread came from Bread Alone. Pies came from Meredith’s.
PANTRIES ARE CONCERNED WITH NUTRITION IN TERMS OF SALT, SUGAR, AND FAT.
Whether or not a pantry serves nutritious food depends on whether the coordinator of the pantry knows anything about nutrition. In a pantry, it’s often about choices. If the coordinator doesn’t know or care about nutrition, the food can help keep an unhealthy person sick.
FOR EXAMPLE, MANY SHOPPERS AT RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY ARE OVER 65. Current statistics show that 1 in 7 seniors don’t even get enough food to eat. When a senior doesn’t get enough to eat, s/he may get sick causing problems for the children and grandchildren.
Reservoir Food Pantry volunteers make an ongoing herculean effort to offer only the best produce to our shoppers. Prasida and Francine drive to Latham every Monday morning and return with about 900-1000 lbs of fresh food – much of which is organic.
AN IMPORTANT FACT: Reservoir Food Pantry is stocked with foods donated to the Food Bank and offered to us rather than foods that we selected. 100% of that food has been diverted from a landfill. The code is expired. Cans are dented. Labels are torn or missing. It’s all been rejected at a grocery store somewhere.
When we can’t get something we need, we rely on fresh produce to fill the gap. We’ll continue to do this as long as we have gas money to get to Latham.
SO WE HAVE A PROBLEM SIMILAR TO THAT OF OUR SHOPPERS. .
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley Needs our help!
For many years now, the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley has been supporting us…all of us: agencies and the many hungry people we serve. All we do is pick up the phone and ask. The people at the Food Bank then come through with help.
A vivid memory I have of this response: After Superstorm Sandy, 10 semis arrived in the parking lot of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church on Route 375 over the space of a couple of weeks. Each semi came packed to the roof with food for storm victims. No questions asked. All we did was tell the people and they came for much needed food. Each delivery day there would be 80-100 households lined up.
I’m certain that we’ll get the same response after the next disaster.
Well, now is our chance to say “Thank You” to everyone at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
Due to an extremely large donation of food, the FBHV needs our help sorting product so it can subsequently be distributed to the hungry and needy.
The Food Bank is now open 7 days a week to sort this food. Can you say “Thank You”? Can you show your support to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley?
Call 845-534-5344 to set up an appointment to volunteer. Bring your friends with you. Come as a group. Let’s get this food sorted!
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
But…are they hungry enough?
The “Are They Hungry Enough” issue looms large in food pantry conflicts. The fears boil down to this:
People are going to shop at the pantry when they actually have the $$$ to go to the grocery store.
Riffraff are going to take the pantry food and sell it.
These people wouldn’t need to come here if they managed their $$$ better.
VERY FEW PEOPLE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE CONCEPT THAT WE JUST GIVE THE FOOD AWAY…NO STRINGS ATTACHED. The unspoken text is that the hungry, the struggling class, individually and as a group should be punished for being the downtrodden.
Sometimes when I try to sort the issues out in my head, I remember the chicken yard my grandmother had during World War II. Occasionally, when a chicken would become sick, the other chickens would begin to peck at it. If the chicken didn’t get well, it would be pecked to death.
WHEN WE ATTACK THE HUNGRY FOR NEEDING THE PANTRY, WE’RE LIKE THE CHICKENS PECKING THE WEAKEST ONE TO DEATH.
I welcome all shoppers. They don’t have to be destitute although I see many destitute people nowadays.
Pantry shoppers routinely endure:
long lines
uncomfortable waiting conditions
lack of choice
WAITS OUTSIDE PANTRIES ARE USUALLY AN HOUR OR LONGER. At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we advertise our hours as 2:00 to 5:30. The doors actually open a little after 1:00 to a long line of people already waiting.
Shoppers wait outside the tiny pantry whether it’s raining, snowing, or if there are broiling summer temperatures. There is no shade outside our pantry…no protection from the elements.
They wait in this line for access to about 30 different food products. Compare that to a trip to a super market with 10,000 or so items to choose from.
THE PANTRY EXPERIENCE IS THE END OF THE ROAD. People are out of $$$ and need something to eat. period.
And, finally, if I ever could take the attitude that hungry people must have done something wrong and don’t need that kind of food…I remember the first time I naively asked a child in line about Christmas.
SANTA DOESN’T COME TO FAMILIES THAT STAND IN A PANTRY LINE.
THAT IS PUNISHMENT ENOUGH.
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Thurman Greco
Why are they hungry?
RECENTLY UNEMPLOYED
They showed up in the pantry one Wednesday evening. A man, his wife, her mother, two children. A closely knit group, it was this family against the world. It was obvious to anyone in the room who looked that he loved his daughter.
“Welcome. Come on in. Go around the room…..” I gave them the usual spiel. The whole family helped choose food.
As they were leaving, I handed them a flyer about the soup kitchen. Off they went, flyer in hand, to have supper.
Wednesdays became a ritual for them. First, they came to the pantry and then they went to the soup kitchen for supper.
UNDEREMPLOYED/UNDERPAID
For me, she wins the medal for being the most underemployed/underpaid person in Woodstock.
Capable.
Well educated.
Creative.
Industrious.
Beautiful.
Goal oriented.
Excellent people skills.
Talented.
Stuck in Woodstock and almost starving to death, she was evicted at one point and moved in with a friend. She barely makes it from day to day.
DEATH OF A SPOUSE
“I’m so grateful to be here today. I have someplace to go – the pantry. Fred died one year ago today ” she said.
“Thanks for coming by.”
“I just never knew how hard it would be to live alone. I don’t want to go to my children. The food I get here really helps my budget.”
FOOD STAMP CUTS
“Thurman, my stamps have been cut again. I don’t know how I’m going to make it.
I have absolutely no money this month. My car died and I don’t know where I’m going to get the $$$ to fix it. If I can’t get the $$$ to fix it, I can’t buy a a new one.”
ILLNESS
“How are you doing today?”
“Well, I’m here.” The man speaking was dying of a brain tumor. The pain clearly marked his face. “The tumor seemed to be getting larger this week. I go down to the hospital every week for the chemo and they check it out.”
“If you’re ever too tired to come to the pantry, call and we’ll deliver the food to you.”
“No” he said. “I’m going to come to the pantry as long as I can – for the social interaction if nothing else.”
TO SUM THINGS UP, THEY (WE) ARE HUNGRY BECAUSE THEIR (OUR) INCOME, FROM WHATEVER SOURCE, IS NOT ENOUGH TO MEET THE HIGH COST OF LIVING AS A POOR OR DESTITUTE PERSON.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Walmart – November, 2014
This is our last tour at Walmart for the year. We won’t be returning until the new year.
Friday was quite a day: cold, damp, very light traffic.
When we sit at the table on the sidewalk in front of the store entrance, we make eye contact with every person coming in the door. “Hi, we’re with the Reservoir Food Pantry, just asking for a donation of either money or food to feed the hungry.”
With 2 or more of us at the table, it’s hard to miss anyone. People either give a donation, tell us they’ll give when they come out, or decline.
So, this was the scene as we greeted donors Friday afternoon about 4:00. Somehow, we missed one. We didn’t even see her until she was upon us as she was leaving. A slight young woman with shimmery blond hair which hung about shoulder length, she wore a flowing coat, almost a cape…a deeply red cape.
She surprised us as she came out the “in” door with a cart overflowing with food. All of it had been carefully packed so that there were about 5 cans or boxes of food in each bag.
She parked her shopping cart at the side of our table as she quietly said “I hope you can use this food.”
Then, quickly…almost too quickly…she removed her hands from the cart, looked at us with a beautiful smile, and walked away. She seemed to be almost floating. Then, about 50 feet away from our table, she seemed to disappear in a mist that was surrounding her.
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Thurman Greco
Who are the hungry?
She arrived at the pantry to shop one Wednesday evening just as we were closing. “Thanks for being here. I’m completely out of food and I’ve got 3 jobs. It’s really hard to get to the pantry. For all my jobs, I have absolutely no money and I have no time to eat if I do have food.”
Several states passed minimum wage legislation on November 4. But there is still much more work which needs to be done.
OUR POLITICIANS ARE DOING NO ONE A FAVOR BY NOT RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE.
Minimum wage workers don’t make enough money even to buy food. It takes 2 minimum wage jobs just to pay the rent.
HOMELESS PEOPLE ARE NOT ALL UNEMPLOYED. It’s estimated that 10% of the homeless people are employed – they just don’t make enough money to pay rent.
When a person works at the minimum wage level s/he is not making a real contribution to society because there isn’t any money for healthcare. When a minimum wage person becomes ill, the symptoms are ignored until things become so bad that a trip to the e.r. becomes necessary.
As few as 20 years ago, hourly workers made enough money to pay rent, buy food, get to work, pay taxes.
The value of the minimum wage has eroded and economic security has declined to the point where economic inequality has increased. People are no longer poor. They are destitute.
Our country needs people who can make a contribution to our community, our state, our great nation.
Our country needs workers who make a wage high enough to buy food, pay rent, get clothing, and pay for medicine/medical bills, transportation, taxes.
So, here we all are at pantries all over this country – feeding people while politicians in Washington cut programs, causing poverty, and, in general, making things worse.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANYONE IN OUR GREAT NATION TO GO HUNGRY.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Thank you to Pieta and the Ulster County Board of Realtors Community Service Committee.
This letter is to everyone at the Ulster County Board of Realtors Community Services Committee who offer ongoing support our food pantry throughout the year.
Specifically, thank you to:
Jean Semilof – Westwood Metes and Bounds
Pieta Williams – Halter Associates Realty
Mitch Rapaport, Margo O’Bourne, and Victoria Hoyt – Win Morrison
Grace Bowne, Dorcinda Knauth – Weichert Realtors, The Spiesman Group
Steve Hubbard – Steve Hubbard Real Estate
Gillian Harper – Wells Fargo Mortgage
Elizabeth Dolly Decker – Hello Dolly Real Estate
Michele Rizzi – Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union
Nan Potter – Potter Realty.
Pieta, you always make my day better when I came down the stairs to my home and see a bag of goodies: razors, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, tooth paste. These are basics – things most of us take for granted.
But, when a person shops at a pantry, nothing can be taken for granted. People coming to the Reservoir Food Pantry have little and need much.
At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we know items of dignity are important to our shoppers, because these items are simply beyond the financial reach for many. People sometimes go to a pantry when there is absolutely no money in the household.
This is true of all categories:
seniors
homeless
ill
unemployed.
Members of the Ulster County Board of Realtors Community Services Committee, you have an ongoing awareness of the issues confronting poor and destitute people in Ulster County. You demonstrate this throughout the year, as you generously give items of dignity for our pantry shoppers.
As Boiceville’s only pantry, we see a level of need not obvious in a more urban setting.
Thank you to everyone at the Ulster County Board of Realtors.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
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November, 2014
“Say goodbye to the landlord for me;
Sons of bitches always bored me.” – Guy Clark
Yet another round of food stamp cuts went into effect just a year ago this month. This national event with far reaching repercussions didn’t negatively affect everyone. After all, a person not receiving SNAP card funds wasn’t even affected unless s/he was politically conservative. In that case, November 5, 2013 was a glorious day.
FOR THOSE RECEIVING SNAP CARD FUNDS, THE IMPACT WAS SERIOUS.
Diane, a pantry shopper has been a widow now for a little over 2 years. She depends totally on her low social security check. Her SNAP card allotment was reduced to $45. This $45 is her total food budget. After Diane pays her rent and utilities, she has no $$$ left for food. All the food she eats comes from the SNAP card and a pantry. She purchases her clothes at the Family of Woodstock free store.
Diane’s old car recently needed repairs and she tried to borrow the needed $$$. That never happened so she wisely gave up and moved to Saugerties to be on a bus line. Honestly, I don’t know how she managed to pull off a move. They are very expensive endeavors.
FOR PANTRY VOLUNTEERS, THE NOVEMBER 5TH CUTS BROUGHT DREAD. We know reducing SNAP card benefits isn’t the answer. When people shop for groceries with SNAP funds, they not only offer nourishment to themselves and their families, they bring much needed outside $$$ to the area, which is often depressed.
Many people have financial problems today which they are never going to overcome without a serious change in our country’s attitude toward poverty. People have no $$$ for food because of:
lack of viable employment
high housing costs
high medical costs
Pantry shoppers lack resources to get beyond a chronic condition of lack in their lives. A few people today are rich at the expense of the poor. According to Couleecap, the richest 1% increased their share of total income by 10%, while, on average, the remaining 99% saw their piece of the pie shrink by 1-2%.
As food benefits were gutted on that fateful day in November, pantry volunteers had valid concerns:
THEY FEARED A NEW WAVE OF OVERWHELMINGLY LONG LINES OF HUNGRY PEOPLE.
They feared we would all run out of food for the people and be unable to get enough to feed the ever increasing number.
There was a realization that few understand: it’s been a long time since we really were emergency food providers.
MANY FEARS BECAME REALITY. Pantry shopping has definitely become more popular. Every week Prasida and Francine bring back more and more food and every bit of it is distributed. Sean Bigler records our weekly journey on a chart on the Reservoir Food Pantry Facebook page and on our website.
The Food Banks of Northeastern New York and the Hudson Valley mustered forces to provide enough food every week. They send trucks to farms, grocers, food manufacturers and bring food back for pantries to take to their shoppers. If the hungry can make it to a pantry, they are fed.
POOR AND STRUGGLING PEOPLE HAVE SLIPPED YET ANOTHER NOTCH AWAY FROM THE RICH. I am convinced, every time I open the pantry doors, that there are now 2 Americas: the haves and the have nots.
We recently received a request for statistics:
How many have we turned away?
How long is our waiting list?
THE QUESTIONS WERE ENDLESS, IT SEEMED. Well, we don’t have those statistics in the Reservoir Food Pantry because we feed the people. The weekly trip to Latham continues rain, shine or snow. The monthly food drives at the Kingston Walmart are important for pantry volunteers.
Most weeks we run out of food about the same time we run out of people so we don’t turn anyone away. We offer a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who donates food to food banks and food pantries.
At the pantry’s close last Monday, there were 4 carrots left over in a small box, and another small box 1/2 filled with green beans.
We cannot do our job week after week without the continued support of:
Migliorelli Farm,
Ulster Corp gleaners,
Shandaken Community Gardens,
Kingston Walmart,
Boiceville IGA.
Father Nicholas at Holy Ascension Monastery shares donated yogurt with our pantry.
Pieta Williams brings items of dignity.
Lisa Library sends new books for the children.
Beecher Smith and John Parete at Boiceville Inn are the reason we have a pantry with shelves now.
LAST MONTH WE SERVED 856 PEOPLE. In September the number was 834. We expect November’s number to be higher. It has never gone down yet. Why should the trend be different this month?
THE ACTUAL NUMBER DOESN’T MATTER. We don’t plan to turn anyone away.
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Thurman Greco
Chris
“Do you need volunteers?” The young man speaking to me was a living, breathing dream for any pantry coordinator:
His hair wasn’t gray. That meant he could probably lift.
He had a car. That meant he could probably haul cardboard to the dump.
I wanted to pinch myself. Was I dreaming?
“Sure, What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“Well, I can probably work one evening a week. I’m ready to get started. What needs to be done?”
After that, Chris showed up every Wednesday and did anything and everything that needed to be done:
mopping the floors.
folding down empty boxes and stuffing them in his jeep until he couldn’t get even one more in the vehicle.
Bringing case after case of canned goods from the storeroom to the pantry room.
Organizing the storeroom.
CHRIS DIDN’T TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT HIS SITUATION. Our culture has this $$$ taboo making it difficult for people in his situation to explain what the real problem is. We’re all ready to bare our souls when discussing sex, crime, illness. But we zip our lips over $$$.
Employers play the taboo card to the max. If the average person in our country only knew how difficult it is for a person to live on a minimum wage, maybe the wages would increase. Meanwhile, the $$$ taboo keeps people from knowing whether Walmart pays better than Target which may or may not pay better than McDonald’s.
MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS HAVE DIFFICULTY GETTING BENEFITS. Overtime, retirement and health insurance are simply not available to most in the struggling class.
Housing poses the biggest obstacle for low wage workers. Many simply cannot afford anything beyond housing and transportation.
Slowly, his story sort of revealed itself over the next few weeks. His job in a big box store in Kingston was an hourly position with neither enough hours or enough wages to buy both rent and food.
HE WAS EVERY WOMAN’S GRANDSON. Peggy assembled his package for take out each week.
We all cheered when he came and were totally grateful for everything he did. We loved Chris. And, as with all things that are too good to be true, he left after a few months to work in another big box store offering more hours and a few more pennies each hour for pay.
Goodbye Chris, we love you – wherever you are.
SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I WROTE IN A BLOG POST THAT I see the sidewalks of whatever town or city I’m in as nothing more than wards for the untreated mentally ill.
TODAY I WRITE THIS: When I go in a big box store or chain restaurant, I don’t see a person behind the vest or the colorful. What is see, instead, is the collective low wage American worker living in a perpetual state of emergency. Lunch consists of chips or a piece of bread. Home is a car, van, or a sofa somewhere. The loss of a day’s work means no groceries for the next…if there is any money for food after paying the rent and transportation.
POVERTY IN AMERICA IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE CONDITION.
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Thurman Greco
