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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Peace and food for all.
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
An Open Letter to Everyone at Esotec Beverages
This is a public acknowledgement to you for your generosity throughout this year. Our
first year at Reservoir Food Pantry brought growth coupled with successes along the way.
EVERY PANTRY HAS SOMETHING WHICH SETS IT APART FROM ALL THE OTHERS. One thing setting the Reservoir Food Pantry from other area pantries is our strong take out department. 40% of the households we serve are home bound. The residents never leave their homes.
These people all have special situations they’re dealing with:
Illness
Old age
Physical disabilities
Transportation issues
Whatever their challenges, the volunteers at Reservoir Food Pantry are there for them. We cannot do this job without your support. The juices and beverages you donate to us go directly into the food packages for home bound people.
Your generosity offers food of a quality that neither we nor they can possibly get anywhere else. Neither the home bound clients nor the pantry have the funds for such delicious, nutritious food products. Please know that when a home bound person opens a food package and finds one of your fine beverages, you have made that person’s day.
Thanks again for your generosity toward our pantry, our clients, and our community. You are making a real difference.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
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The Debate Rages On
An older man came into the pantry wearing a baseball cap which read “Korean War Veteran”. I simply could not then and cannot now understand how this man, who fought as a soldier in the very brutal Korean conflict in the 1950’s is now, as an old man, reduced to standing in a pantry line for food.
ACTUALLY, I KNEW THE ANSWER. His social security check is just not large enough to buy food and he’s outlived his savings.
One day a tall, handsome man with a generous head of wavy white hair, approached me in Bread Alone. “I want to shake your hand. I worked all my life. When I was laid off recently, I realized that I’m never going to work again. If it weren’t for your efforts in the pantry, I would be going hungry.”
George, while he had white hair, was not yet old enough for social security. So, he relied on unemployment, food stamps, and the pantry. The hope in these cases is always that the unemployment insurance will last until the social security kicks in.
ONE FAMOUS ARTIST SHOPPED REGULARLY while going through foreclosure. He kept a positive attitude about the whole thing. But, the sorrow was unavoidable. He ended up living in Kingston. He still made it over to the pantry whenever he could for about a year afterward. The transition out of Woodstock was very difficult.
SOME PEOPLE HAD THEIR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT THE SITUATION:
“Thurman, you are serving entirely too much food to these people. You can’t do this.”
“Thurman, you’re filling this building with vagrants and riffraff. You need to keep the riffraff out.”
“Thurman, why are you serving fresh fruits and vegetables in the pantry? You
shouldn’t do this.”
“Thurman, why are you giving food to her? She is not a responsible parent. She needs to be raising her children more responsibly.”
OFTEN THESE OPINIONS WERE SHARED BY PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T HAVE THE FACTS AND WHO HAD NEVER BEEN HUNGRY.
When people begin to debate poverty, they always seem to talk
family,
race,
money,
culture.
THIS IS THE WRONG DEBATE. What we need to discuss is power, inequality, and exploitation.
Seniors, due to their age, are exploited because, when they quit working or get a retirement job, they lose their power.
Women are exploited in both the workplace and domestic situations. They are not paid equal wages for jobs performed.
POOR PEOPLE ARE EXPLOITED BECAUSE THEY LACK THE RESOURCES TO FIGHT BACK.
POVERTY IS A HIGHLY CHARGED ISSUE. If you don’t believe me, try listening to politicians rage on about how the minimum wage should or should not be increased. The Obama care battle is still being waged. The movement to gut the food stamp benefits and unemployment benefits is popular.
Corporate downsizing is routine in our country with layoffs occuring in both good times and bad.
THE SAFETY NET FOR THE HUNGRY IS ALL BUT GONE.
Workers in America have no overtime pay, no retirement funds, no health insurance, and no voice.
Minimum wages in tandem with part time employment force people to work several jobs. Holding down 2 or 3 jobs is the norm in communities throughout our country.
IN OUR NATION WE EXPLOIT THE POOR, PUNISH THEM FOR NOT MAKING MORE $$$ AND LABEL THEM IRRESPONSIBLE BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE BETTER JOBS, EDUCATION, RESOURCES.
How can a person:
get a better job which does not exist?
get more education when the $$$ to pay for it is not available to him/her?
pay for healthcare when there in’t even enough $$$ for food?
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Thurman Greco
Hunger Hurts – But You Can Help!
When you donate to the Reservoir Food Pantry, you can be secure in knowing that your gift is not wasted. Volunteers are just that: unpaid workers giving generously of their time and effort. Generous gifts have paid for food each month from the Food Bank where every dollar spent buys $10 of food. Now, through a unique opportunity offered by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, you can give directly to the Food Bank knowing that your donation will go to Reservoir Food Pantry.
When you donate to the Reservoir Food Pantry through the Food Bank Adopt-a-Program, you establish a special line of credit which will allow our pantry to have more food for our clients. You will stretch our food buying power with the Food Bank, and you will be using your donation dollars to solve hunger needs on a local level. You will be using your donation money in the most efficient and effective way possible.
You can reach the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley at 845-534-5344. Or, you can reach the Food Bank through www.foodbankofhudsonvalley.org.
Thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness and generosity. Thank you for helping us to help friends, relatives, and neighbors who find themselves struggling to put enough food on the table.
When you donate to the Food Bank Adopt-a-Program, you give so we can deliver and the struggling hungry can receive. When we feed the hungry, we strengthen the entire community as we assist those who are most vulnerable.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
And…it’s Walmart time again!
“Just asking for food to feed the hungry.”
“Thank you for your donation”.
“Hello.”
Each of us working for the pantry outside the Walmart has a different introduction we use when we speak to the shoppers. We’ve been outside the Walmart monthly since last fall. The only month we didn’t stand outside the entrance was December when the Salvation Army puts out its volunteer ringing the bell.
In February, the temperature was 2 degrees. Standing outside the store in July, we all commented that the broiling heat was better than the cold.
But, really, in our hearts of hearts, we don’t care what day it is, what the time is, what the temperature is. What matters is that we’re outside the entrance and it’s our favorite place to be.
No, I’m not lying. I totally adore being outside the Walmart. We’ve made friends with everyone:
customers
employees
tradesmen.
On Friday, a young couple came up to show off their brand new baby who wasn’t even here yet at our September visit.
One of my favorite people at the Walmart is a homeless woman who always manages to bring us a can of food.
Employees drop by throughout the day to see if we’re okay.
In the midst of all the community, we’re raising $$$ to buy food to keep the pantry open another month. And…that’s no small job. Our census rises every month. Last month, we served 800 people.
For a young pantry, just a little over a year old, to have the food and funds to feed 800 people is something to be extremely proud of. Reservoir Food Pantry volunteers can do this because they know how to focus on the task at hand.
Prasida, Bob, Louise, Barbara, and Garrett know how to focus on feeding the people. The focus is completely “with us” all three days.
This focus offers opportunity to:
really enjoy what we’re doing.
set goals.
bond with the people we meet.
keep our pantry open.
As the coordinator, I’m often asked: “Who sponsors your pantry?”
Thank you to everyone at the Walmart, both customers and employees. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to feed 800+ people every month. When we feed the hungry, we strengthen our whole community. We couldn’t do this without your support.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
