Food Pantry Blog – Whew!
Such a day! Such a week! Even I can’t believe all of it. But, I suppose actions speak for themselves. And, I have to realize we’ve been working towards this week for a whole year now.
Volunteers at the Reservoir Food Pantry are living proof that excitement can make a person drunk. We were intoxicated on gratitude all day Monday.
For starters, Prasida went off to Latham early Monday morning and returned at noon with almost 700 pounds of fresh produce – gorgeous produce. Corn, greens, potatoes, onions, carrots, herbs, spinach, apples, apricots, peaches, melons, beans.
And, while Prasida was off on 87 doing her thing, the two Bobs, Pat and I were over at the Hannaford’s getting our very first monthly shipment. With a lot of planning and praying, this went off without a hitch. This is a huge step for our new little pantry. We’re working on a standing appointment at 11:30 on delivery day!
Then, we made our way over to the pantry and set up our tables. The spread, under a gorgeous sky, was the best ever. And, to celebrate all this bounty, some of us worked the distribution tables serving groceries from the Food Bank, Migliorelli Farm, Shandaken Community Gardens, Bread Alone, and Esotec.
Others measured shelving for the new shed we just put behind Robert’s Auction. At one point, Sean went off to purchase same so we can get it installed.
By the end of the pantry day, we were all so excited we weren’t touching the ground.
We’re soon to celebrate our first anniversary! We hope you’ll come out between 4 and 7 on the afternoon of September 11th. We won’t be hard to find. We’ll be in the adorable red shed behind Robert’s Auction in Boiceville.
Come out and see what all the excitement is about. Come share some refreshments. Come see where people pantry shop in the Reservoir area!
Peace and food for all.
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Thurman Greco
Take Outs – Why People Can’t Get To The Pantry
“Thurman, why are you delivering food to her house? She’s got children. One of them has a car. He can bring her. ”
“Thurman, nobody who has a car should get food delivered.”
“Thurman, he’s got some money. You can’t take food to him.”
THERE ARE ALWAYS THOSE WHO CANNOT MAKE IT TO THE PANTRY. Delivery service is not always available in every pantry. And, there are always others who feel delivery service is an exclusive experience for the freeloaders.
My stance is that those who need delivery service are the neediest of all.
“Hello, Mr. Roberts. How are you doing today?”
“Thanks so much for coming Thurman. I’ve been getting meals from my neighbors but they didn’t make it over yesterday so I’m out of food and haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.”
“Well, have you got any snacks to tide you over when this happens?”
“Not really. And, anyway, I can’t walk anymore. I can barely make it to the bathroom.”
“What about Meals on Wheels?”
“Can’t afford them.”
“Aren’t you getting hospice? When is the hospice lady supposed to come?”
MANY HOME BOUND PEOPLE ARE ELDERLY. The —–(you put in the body part here) no longer works, the person becomes home bound. Unless this older citizen has a large support group, life can be challenging.
The best approach for dealing with the needs of the home bound, especially the elderly, is to encourage them to use the pantry before they are home bound. But, this can be a real challenge.
GETTING A SENIOR CITIZEN TO USE A PANTRY CAN BE DIFFICULT. But the food is there and they should be encouraged to use not only the pantry but the soup kitchen and SNAP. Then, when they become home bound, they will already have a support system of sorts which can be adapted to their needs.
Current statistics, from the Feeding America survey, for seniors in our country tell us that one senior in seven does not get enough food. When this happens, the senior is at risk of illness.
WHEN THE SENIOR GETS SICK THE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN MUST TAKE CARE OF HIM/HER. Proper nutrition is a good disease prevention measure.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
There Shouldn’t Even Be Pantries
There are sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry. – Ed Asner
THE CROWD WAS HEAVY THAT AFTERNOON, WITH THE HALLS PACKED.
People had begun to line up two hours early to shop in the pantry. Every poverty category was gathered outside the door: artists, crazy poor, disabled poor, elderly poor, employed poor, disabled poor, generational poor, hardworking poor, homebound, homeless, ill poor, mentally ill poor, messed-up poor, musicians, poets, newly poor, resource poor, struggling poor, transient poor, underemployed poor, unemployed poor, veterans, Woodstock’s colorful characters, writers. They got a three-day supply of food last week and by now it was all gone.
THE PANTRY ROOM OVERFLOWED WITH PRODUCE: oranges, lemons, carrots, potatoes, onions, eggs, Bread Alone breads, Bella Pasta, packs of organic salad mixes, fresh herbs, mushrooms. The list seemed endless.
The pantry opened promptly at 3:00 and by 3:02, there were four people already shopping in a line in the pantry room.
PRASIDA, RICH, GUY, TONY, AND ROBYN WERE AT THEIR STATIONS MOVING PEOPLE ALONG.
“Will the next two people in line please come into the pantry room now?”
“We’ve got room for another person here.”
“HEY TONY, HERE COMES ANOTHER BOX”. I was pitching freshly emptied boxes to Tony about every 2-3 minutes.
“How”‘s it going? Don’t forget to take a bag of carrots. We were able to get enough for everyone to take a bag.”
“Wait, wait, wait. What’s wrong? You’re crying. What happened?”
“Oh Thurman, I feel sooo ashamed. I was at the head of the line. Suddenly, a man walked in the door who wasn’t a shopper. He came right up to the line and spoke to us all: ‘There shouldn’t be any pantries. None of you should even be here in this building. All of you should go out and get jobs.’ “
“Thurman, you know I’m too old to work. Nobody hires people in their 70’s.”
“Listen Beverly, don’t even think about it. It was nothing.”
“OKAY EVERYONE, LET’S KEEP SHOPPING.” I SAID AS I WENT TO THE PANTRY DOOR AND CALLED TO GUY.
“What’s going on?”
” Thurman, a watcher came in and told everyone in the line that we should all go out and get jobs and that none of us should even be in the building. Everyone’s upset. But, we’re handling it.”
“Thanks’s Guy.”
“Here Tony, can you take a couple of extra boxes real fast?”
“Thanks.”
“WE CAN TAKE TWO MORE PEOPLE IN THE PANTRY.”
“Thanks for coming today. Be sure and take all the bread and salad you want. Don’t forget to go down to the barn for some frozen food. We’ve got some good deals down there today.”
“Welcome to the pantry today.”
“Let’s keep the line moving now.”
“TONY, CAN YOU TAKE SOME MORE BOXES?”
On behalf of all the people shopping and volunteering in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry that afternoon, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this blog/book.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Last Monday at the Reservoir Food Pantry
It is not necessary to advertise food to hungry people, fuel to cold people, or houses to the homeless.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
TWICE AS MANY FOUND US THIS MONDAY AT THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY AS FOUND US JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. We’re not trying to hide out or anything but each week, the number of people shopping at our pantry grows.
We’re open Monday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00 up the hill behind Robert’s Auction. They trickle in, slowly, (some a little hesitantly), trying to figure out how to act at a food pantry. Soon, they’re visiting, chatting, getting to know one another over apples, asparagus, lettuce.
“How much of this can I have?”
“Look at this! I haven’t had an orange in ages.”
“Wow! What beautiful lettuce!”
The fresh produce comes from Migliorelli Farm, Shandaken Community Garden, and the Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
The bread comes from Bread Alone.
This event could have sent inexperienced volunteers into total confusion mode. Not this crowd. Everyone is experienced so we just went into expansion mode. Before 3:00, we were discussing where we’re going to put the new shelves we’re buying for the shed that just got delivered.
We were discussing where the new refrigerator and freezer that we so desperately need are going to go.
The shed had one level of need last week. This week is a totally new picture.
BECAUSE, WE ALL KNOW THAT NUMBERS GO UP IN A PANTRY. They don’t go down. The Boiceville area has needed a pantry for awhile so we’re prepared to expand to meet the demand created by increasing numbers of shoppers.
Our updated shopping list includes one refrigerator, one freezer, four sets of industrial shelves, and $280 more each month for gasoline to drive to Latham for food to feed the hungry.
Last Saturday saw Prasida, Bob, Sean, and Bonnie outside the Boiceville IGA asking for food or funds. Either was just fine. All the money donated went right into the grocery store for food. We bought everything on sale: canned tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, salad dressings, mustard, canned beans, soups.
We’ll be back at the IGA at the end of September we hope. We’ll be asking for holiday foods: canned pumpkin, canned green beans, canned cream soups, stuffing mix, gravy, instant mashed potatoes…as much as we can get for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Prasida and Bob will be outside the Kingston Walmart on August 13, 14, and 15th again asking for food and funds. Without the generosity of the IGA and the Walmart managment and shoppers, our pantry would be a very different place than it is now.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE: VOLUNTEERS, STOREKEEPERS, DONORS. We are here today, serving the hungry, because you care.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
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Thurman Greco
Peace and food for all.
Peace and food for all.
The Wednesday Afternoon Farm Festival in Woodstock
In typical Woodstock fashion, the town fought over the farm festival for years before it finally happened.
FIGHTS LIKE THIS HAPPEN IN WOODSTOCK ALL THE TIME. Every community improvement takes years of fighting before it becomes a reality. And, while this entertains many people, it holds up progress.
Those years of fighting represented lost revenue for a town that really doesn’t have a lot of options for income.
Oh well, I’m getting off track here.
THE WEDNESDAY WOODSTOCK FARM FESTIVAL MEANT SOOO MUCH TO THE PANTRY.
But, not how you might think. Symbolism is important here. As people go down the path toward the pantry, they begin to lose their connection to the community. This happens mainly because they have no money to participate in activities and they’re depressed, embarrassed, sad about being broke, sick, out of a job, going through foreclosure, etc. You put in the words here.
Every situation is different, but the process is the same for the people going down the path.
So, the pantry shoppers, for the most part, didn’t have the money to participate in the farm festival.
MIGLIORELLI FARMS OFFERED A SMALL MIRACLE AT THE END OF EACH MARKET AFTERNOON. Several volunteers from the Good Neighbor Food Pantry were allowed on the grounds in the final few minutes of the market to load up a car with some of the veggies. We then took them back to the pantry and stacked them to distribute on Thursday.
WHAT A GIFT! Migliorelli Farms offered a real emotional boost to our many shoppers as well as delicious, nutritious food. Migliorelli fed the body as well as the soul.
Now, the shoppers at least had a small connection to the farm market festival.
Until…one day a member of the Farmers Market Board of Directors called me up and pulled the plug. “You can’t have any more of the produce Thurman. People are not shopping at the market because they’re waiting until Thursday to come to the pantry to get the food free.”
“HOW CAN THIS BE? The pantry shoppers don’t have the money to shop at the farm festival. Have you seen the people who shop at the pantry?” I was shocked to hear such words from a person who had never set foot in our pantry.
“Don’t even try to talk me out of this Thurman. Our Board voted on this. The Migliorelli food will be donated to an agency in Kingston. It will not be wasted. You will not get any more of the Migliorelli produce.” And, with that, she hung up.
I was stunned. I felt as if someone had hit me.
AND, IT WASN’T THE FOOD THAT DID IT. Our pantry was going to continue to have enough food. The Food Bank offered beautiful, fresh, organic produce every week, all year around. All we had to do was go up and get it. And, go get it we would. Our pantry commitment to fresh produce was serious.
The pantry shoppers, many of whom had absolutely no money at all were being denied participation in a local event that anyone could get in to…all it took was money.
Then, somehow, I’ll never know how, a miracle occurred. Someone (some people) spoke to someone (some people) and attitudes were adjusted.
WE WERE ALLOWED TO GET PRODUCE AGAIN.
I never knew how this happened. And, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that some person (people) fought for the pantry. And, they didn’t care whether anyone else knew what they did. They just wanted the produce to stay in our community. They just did whatever was necessary to get the food to the hungry. Rules were changed. Votes were changed.
FOR THAT, I’M ETERNALLY GRATEFUL.
Whoever brought about this change created a positive energy ripple effect.
Whoever brought about this change definitely made me realize that all is not lost in this world.
In spite of this, I never felt comfortable with the farm market food again. I felt each Wednesday’s gift from Migliorelli’s Farms might be the last. I held my breath as Guy drove the van over for the produce. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it return with fresh produce.
When the farmers’ market returned the next spring, I waited (quietly apprehensive) to hear words from Rick: “Thurman, Migliorelli is going to share its produce with the pantry this summer”.
Even as I heard those words, I didn’t believe them until I actually saw the produce. I always had a well formed Plan B ready in case we had to start making extra trips to Albany on Thursday morning. The need for fresh produce for our shoppers was great.
For the most part, these people were all in the process of losing so much. It was up to me to keep Thursday produce on the agenda at the pantry.
At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we are extremely proud to have Migliorelli Farms sponsor us. Our shoppers have beautiful, fresh Migliorelli vegetables every week . What a beautiful gift!
Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
ON BEHALF OF THE MANY SHOPPERS WHO USE THE PANTRY, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS BLOG/BOOK.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Spaghetti Sauce – That’s what it’s all about in a food pantry.
I’ve always had issues with spaghetti sauces.
MY MOTHER NEVER PREPARED A SPAGHETTI SAUCE. She cooked in the classic French manner. Her family was one of the first settlers in Texas and had one of the largest ranches in the state so beef was on the table every day. Her meals focused on extremely thick steaks, composed salads with chopped apples, raisins, nuts arranged on a bed of lettuce in the middle of a salad plate and dressed with her own specially prepared poppy seed dressing.
The steaks were always at least two to four inches thick and were cooked at least medium rare. My mother learned the cooking and nutritional rules of her day and lived by those principles until she died.
SHE NEVER TAUGHT ME TO COOK. “I want you to do other things with your life than cook. We’ve got can openers now. I’ll show you how to operate one of those when you get married.” True to her word, she did and I did.
As I set up my own kitchen right after getting married, one of the first things I taught myself to prepare was a tomato sauce to be served on spaghetti. It was easy, cheap, and just my speed.
THE RECIPE INCLUDED TWO 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes, a 6-ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 cup water. It was seasoned with a teaspoon of dried basil, 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of dried oregano. I put 1 clove of crushed garlic in a large pot along with 2 tablespoons olive oil and browned the garlic. Then, I added everything else and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
I CAN’T SAY I’M A COOK. However, I can say that, like my mother before me, I lived with a set of guidelines learned about nutrition, food safety, and how to follow a simple recipe to the “t”.
YEARS LATER, my second spouse took cooking classes on Tuesday evenings at L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD. It was glorious. He never really cooked a pasta sauce either. He finally ended up in what was for him a dream job as a vegetarian chef for Marriott and I never complained. After all, he did all the grocery shopping and cooking. What was there to complain about? Life was glorious!
MORE YEARS LATER, IN THE GOOD NEIGHBOR FOOD PANTRY, I ENCOUNTERED YET MORE ISSUES WITH SPAGHETTI SAUES. For one thing, there weren’t any. Pasta was available maybe half the time. But, the traditional jars and cans of spaghetti sauce were very difficult to find on the order list. It’s a shame too, because homeless or near-homeless people lack kitchens and to be able to open a can or jar of spaghetti sauce and heat it up in a pan over a burner or in a microwave would have been a real treat.
At one point, the USDA inventory included a low salt spaghetti sauce loaded with sugar. People took it home but we all knew that if they had diabetes, life could get complicated. This sauce certainly met the requirements for a low-salt product.
FINALLY, IN 2012, Progresso came out with a series of canned cooking sauces. And, following their policy of generous donations, they sent a huge shipment of them to the Food Bank.
HURRAY! I was able to buy these sauces for sixteen cents per pound which was well within my budget and many cans were available. And, buy them I did. One of them, Fire Roasted Tomato, appeared to be adaptable to a simple pasta sauce situation. While they were certainly not the traditional spaghetti sauces, they worked.
THAT’S REALLY WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT IN A PANTRY. We get the best fit we can based on what’s available. The shoppers take it home to wherever that is (tent, camper, room, apartment) and fake it. Welcome to the world of those who have no money for food.
Peace and food for all.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
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Thurman Greco
Inspections in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock
“As I finish writing about this unpleasant part of my life, I tell myself that was then, and there is now, and the years between now and then, and the then and now are one.”-Lillian Hellman
As the coordinator of a Food Bank pantry, I was trained by, supervised by, evaluated by, and inspected by the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
THESE INSPECTIONS WERE ALWAYS INFORMATIVE, INTERESTING, AND A RELIEF TO HAVE BEHIND ME. I categorized them in several “Stages”.
A STAGE ONE INSPECTION was pre-arranged by either the Food Bank or myself. The representative from the Food Bank showed up at the appointed time, carried a clip board with a form which was filled out. After the inspection, we all signed the paperwork, made small talk and the person left.
The questions dealt with the food on the shelves, how clean the room was, how far the shelves were from the walls. The Good Neighbor Food Pantry never passed this 6″ limit but no one ever said anything. The pantry room was simply too small.
A STAGE TWO INSPECTION WAS A PHONE CALL.
“Thurman, how are you doing? I’m calling because we’ve received a complaint. Someone called and reported a shopper standing outside the pantry crying. What happened?”
“I don’t know. I’ll get back with you as soon as I can find out?”
“When do you think we’ll hear from you?”
“As soon as possible. I’ll ask some volunteers and get a handle on the situation. Thanks for calling.”
At a Stage Three inspection, someone called, wrote, or visited the Food Bank with enough venom, concern, clout (you choose the word) to cause a person to get up from his/her desk, go out to the parking lot and drive to Woodstock to inspect the situation in person on the same day.
MY FIRST STAGE THREE INSPECTION WAS THE RESULT OF A PHONE COMPLAINT, I THINK. I never knew for sure. Things were urgent enough that a USDA inspector came out from Albany in a State of New York car. He was a handsome young African American man (in his 40’s) wearing a white shirt and conservative necktie. The minute he walked in the door, I knew something was up. After all, who ever comes to the pantry in Woodstock wearing a shirt and necktie?
When he left two hours later, he knew “what color my skivvies were” as my grandmother used to say. He went over inch of the pantry, asked a million questions and took a kazillion notes. This man not only found out everything there was to know about the pantry, he realized early on that I was a brand new coordinator.
HE BECAME A WONDERFUL TEACHER AND I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT HOW TO MANAGE A PANTRY FROM HIM. I asked him a million questions back and also took a kazillion notes. When he left, I felt I had a friend and the knowledge I gained gave me confidence in my performance. Needless to say, my score was wonderful.
When in Albany the next week, I told one of the Food Bank employees about my recent inspection. Her face blanched as I talked. This gentle, well mannered, kind young man was the nastiest inspector on the circuit. He was only sent out when someone was really messing things up and needed to be “taken to the woodshed.”
A NOTE TO WHOMEVER COMPLAINED THAT DAY: the inspection was thorough, fair. I passed with flying colors. Thanks!
One important thing I learned from him: It’s not necessary to ask shoppers for identification. No one is required to show anything to get food. The people do need, however, to share their names, the number of people in the household and how many seniors, adults, and children are in the household.
HE ESPECIALLY LIKED THE CHAIRS LINING THE HALLWAY AND THE FRESH PRODUCE IN THE PANTRY.
As he left, he had one suggestion: get office space in the pantry. He and I both knew that it wasn’t going to happen. The building committee finally allowed me to store records but I couldn’t use any space as an office.
AND, OF COURSE, BOTH THE CHAIRS AND THE PRODUCE WERE VERY CONTROVERSIAL.
AFTER I FINAGLED STOREROOM SPACE, I REQUESTED AN INSPECTION. I wanted to avoid a confrontation further down the road if the room didn’t meet Food Bank standards. We passed that inspection.
EVERYTHING WAS CLEAN, SAFE, AND SANITARY.
ONCE WE BEGAN OUR TAKE OUTS, A FOOD BANK INSPECTOR CAME OUT AND SPENT ABOUT TWO HOURS WITH PEGGY JOHNSON. She answered all Peggy’s questions, got a very clear understanding of what Peggy was doing, how she was doing it, and who was receiving the food. When she left, Peggy was confident in her role of Take Out Manager for the pantry.
WHEN MIRIAM’S WELL WAS ON THE ROAD, WE HAD AN INSPECTION UNDER THE TREE AT ST. GREGORY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. No one was ever more excited about that inspection than I. We were proud of Miriam’s Well and how the shoppers were responding to the experience.
WE HAD ONE DISTURBING STAGE THREE INSPECTION. I pulled into the parking lot one pantry day afternoon to find a Food Bank representative waiting for me.
“Thurman, we’ve received some serious complaints about a volunteer stuffing her vehicle with food while hungry people are lined up and waiting to receive their food at the Mass Food Distributions. What is the story here? Is this a fair distribution of food?”
“I’ll look into it immediately.”
OVERALL, OUR INSPECTIONS WERE POSITIVE. The only negative one was the inspection in the parking lot of the food pantry.
Peace and food for all.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
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Thurman Greco
Treasured Belongings in the Food Pantry
IT HANGS ON A WALL IN MY LIVING ROOM, MY DAUGHTER’S SELF PORTRAIT. .
Larger than life, the piece shows one eye, her nose and mouth.
Just beginning her studies at the Corcoran, Jennette wasn’t comfortable painting an entire face.
A photography major, she was painting for the first time in her life.
Sometimes I sit in my chair with my three Chihuahuas and just look at the painting for several minutes when I come home from the pantry. So much of this painting is relevant to what I’m doing now, what the pantry shoppers are experiencing.
As people travel the path to a pantry, they lose things. One shopper recently gave me three paintings. He was offloading personal possessions and just didn’t want to see them go to the dumpster.
I ALSO HAVE PAINTINGS GIVEN TO ME BY OTHER SHOPPERS. If I stay in this business long enough, I’ll end up with a whole gallery. That actually happened to Dr. Wayne Longmore, the absolute best physician in the area.
THERE’S A MORAL IN THIS STORY SOMEWHERE FOR ME. I’m just not sure what it is yet.
Dr. Longmore, an Emergency Medicine specialist, was a Woodstock physician. He practiced by himself, without the help of a receptionist or nurse. He was favored by artists, writers, musicians as well as many other people from around here. Many felt he was the best physician in the area. The artists went to him with their health issues and he treated them with dignity and respect, whether or not they had money. Most of them had no money so, when he worked to make them well, they brought over paintings.
DR. LONGMORE FINALLY HAD THE BEST LOCAL ART COLLECTION IN THE AREA. Then, the paintings and sculptures, given to him over the years by artist patients with no money, disappeared from his office after he was arrested. I never learned the real story of what happened.
The public story was that he prescribed too many painkillers…too much Oxycodone. The FBI Report referred to the product as hydrocodone. Well, the public stories in the papers aren’t always the whole story or even a piece of a story. I know that from personal experience.
DR. LONGMORE AND I KNEW A LOT OF THE SAME PEOPLE. He healed them. The pantry fed them. Without even trying, I knew more or less who was on what. How could I not know? I saw them every week under fairly intimate circumstances.
I ONLY KNEW TWO PEOPLE ON OXYCODONE. And, one of those two was trying to sell the stuff. So, they can’t blame Dr. Longmore for that.
He was sentenced to six months house arrest, three years probation, two hundred hours community service, and fined $200,000.00. The real punishment went to the poor in Woodstock who now have nowhere to go for a doctor. It puts a lot of pressure on the Healthcare as a Human Right group.
HIS OFFICE, JUST DOWN FROM LORI’S CAFE, SITS EMPTY…the office at 104 Mill Hill Road. I think of Dr. Longmore every time I pass by. I remember his beautiful art collection, all the down and out people he served, all the good the man did for Woodstock.
The place has a for sale sign, a monument commemorating those in Woodstock who unfailingly give of themselves. Frankly, I don’t care if they ever sell it.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
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Thurman Greco
Eat – Share – Give – at the Reservoir Pantry in Boiceville, New York
When we opened the Reservoir Food Pantry in September 2013, we served about 50 households the first month. That, in itself was a large number. This June, 2014, we served 450 households consisting of 429 adults, 329 seniors, and 207 children.
ADD THOSE NUMBERS TOGETHER, AND THE TOTAL APPROACHES 1000 PEOPLE.
Our food pantry is supported by an all volunteer group of people from the community at large. We’ve received much help from local businesses: Boiceville IGA, Boiceville Inn, Bread Alone, Roberts Auction, Wastewater Treatment Plant.
We’ve received help from local friends and neighbors who help our mission. We’re proud of the way our pantry volunteers have responded in these hard times.
WE ARE ALL ONE TRAGEDY AWAY FROM LIFE ALTERING CIRCUMSTANCES. Sometimes it’s a health issue, an accident, the loss of a family member or a hurricane.
The gift you give makes a significant impact, helping us provide much needed food to give to people in our area. You help us transport this food from the food bank to our pantry weekly…a vital part of our pantry operations.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO OFFER SUPPORT.
BY CHECK: The Reservoir Food Pantry, P.O.Box 245, Boiceville, NY 12412
BY INTERNET: Go to http://www.reservoirfoodpantry.org/donate.html. This link will take you right to the place on our website where the donate button is.
BY PHONE: The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley accepts donations by phone. Just call 845-534-5344. Our pantry number is 2539f. When you call this number and donate, you are giving to the Food Bank Adopt-a-Pantry program which is, by far, the most value you can receive for your generosity. The Adopt-a-Pantry program gets you $10 dollars in food for every $1 dollar you give. This is the most direct way to be sure that your hungry friends, neighbors, and relatives will receive the most food possible. Please tell Donna that you want to adopt the Reservoir Food Pantry and that our number is 2539f.
BY WILL: That is one way you can be sure that the Reservoir Food Pantry will be around for future generations.
Thank you in advance for your generosity. Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco-
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A Lesson I Never Learned in the Food Pantry
I NEVER LEARNED TO DISOBEY THE BOSS. And, I guess I never will. After all, I’m over 70. Chalk it up to dementia (She’s old and crazy and feeds the unworthy hungry”).
“SERVE YOUR SHOPPERS A THREE-DAY-SUPPLY OF FOOD. Each person gets food for three meals a day with each meal having three of the five food groups” the trainer at the Food Bank taught us. “Your agency needs to offer fresh fruits and vegetables, 1% milk, and whole grain breads.”
So I did.
Excitedly, I returned to the pantry with my car packed to the hilt with crates of grapes, Bolthouse carrots, 50-pound bags of onions and 100-pound bags of potatoes.
THE REACTIONS WERE STRONG – DISTINCT. “Wow Thurman! I never saw anything in the pantry like this before! Thanks!” said Dianne as she put her selections of produce in the shopping bag.
“Thurman! Thurman! Whatever you do, just don’t get our pantry shut down!” implored the church secretary.
“How can that happen?” I replied. I just didn’t understand what was in store for me.
I was the coordinator. I was just doing what the Food Bank said, after all. Besides that, the food was all totally free.
I SOON GOT IT.
“Thurman, you don’t feed this kind of food to these people.”
“Thurman, this food is laden with vermin. Get this stuff out of here NOW!”
Except, it wasn’t. It was gorgeous, restaurant quality food donated by the Food Bank.
And I didn’t. The hungry took the produce out in their shopping bags every week. They took it home, to wherever that was, and fed it to their children and family members.
And, the entire conflict was a secret for the longest time. I never told a soul about how angry the building committee was with my actions.
If I never told anyone, I felt, things would settle down and the building committee would slowly realize that we had new rules. And, of course, it took awhile for reality to sink in. Then, two things happened.
The building committee finally got very loud. They finally had an uprising which resulted in a series of meetings I called the inquisitions.
AND, I LEFT.
Some stories have good endings. Woodstock is now returning the Good Neighbor Food Pantry to its pre-2008 glory days.
I’m off in Boiceville where the Boiceville Inn, Roberts Auction, the IGA, and The Wastewater Treatment Plant people are appearing to feel positive about a pantry in the area.
WE FEED THE HUNGRY EVERY MONDAY AFTERNOON AT 2:00.
It’s a glory day at the Reservoir Food Pantry.
Peace and food for all.
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