“Are you closing?”
The call came out of the blue. A pantry management person I never, ever hear from called: “Are you closing your pantry? I heard this and I’m not the kind of person to spread gossip, so I’m asking you personally.”
“No. No, the Reservoir Food Pantry is not planning to close” I replied. Actually, I’ve been having people call me for almost a year asking if we’re closing. I always ask everyone who approaches me: ” Who did you hear this from?”
“I don’t remember, Thurman.”
“Well, I sure wish I could get someone to spill the beans because I’d love to call that person up and find out what started this whole rumor.”
If I’ve had this conversation once, I’ve had it a dozen times over the past few months. So, here for all the world to read, is the bald truth. The Reservoir Food Pantry is not closing. Actually, we’re growing like a weed.
Every Monday morning Prasida and Francine go to Latham and return with all the produce they can haul back in our long line van. They, Bob Overton, Garrett O’Dell, and Susanne Traub put it out on tables and serve it to the shoppers. By 4:00, there is usually none left. Fruits, vegetables, pies, cakes, meat, fish, yogurt, eggs, …it’s all gone.
We serve about 100 families every Monday afternoon at 2:00. On Tuesdays and Fridays we deliver food to another approximate 50 home bound households.
We have an annual mailing in which we ask the community to support us financially in our efforts.
We are at the entrances of the Kingston Walmart one weekend every month asking shoppers to help us feed the hungry.
Every other month we are at the entrance to the Boiceville IGA on a Saturday as well.
We recently opened a Capital Building account at the bank.
We are actively involved in disaster preparation activities.
The volunteers of the Reservoir Food Pantry are a group of committed individuals focused on feeding the hungry as a way of celebrating the amazing abundance which is available in our country. Only in the good old U S of A could there be this much food available…just for bringing to pantries.
We are:
your tax dollars at work.
an environmental effort as we intercept food bound for the landfill and bring it to the pantry for distribution.
working together to feed the hungry.
looking for a larger space that is located above the flood plain.
extremely grateful for the opportunity we have to feed the hungry in the Ashokan Reservoir area.
It is an honor and a pleasure for us to be in Boiceville in the little red shed behind Robert’s Auction.
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my.Benefits.ny.gov
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Walmart and the Minimum Wage
As the country’s largest employer, Walmart gets criticized for many “wrongs” not exclusive to itself.
Although retailers throughout our country only pay minimum wages, people act like Walmart is the only one. They pretend the other retailers pay over $10 per hour and include wonderful benefits like health care and retirement.
Wrong!
Most retailers pay what Walmart pays – maybe even a little less. In our own Woodstock area, retailers not only pay less, they often pay their sales employees off the books.
So, the recent news of Walmart and the minimum wage hourly rate increases to $9 per hour is an excuse to celebrate, if nothing else. Walmart is a trendsetter! Hopefully this move will motivate other retailers to do the same.
Those of us who work in pantries fantasize we’ll have fewer people in our lines. In some locales, I’m sure that may be true.
However, I harbor no fantasies. For one thing, the people in our pantry line are mostly senior citizens too old to work. For another, those young enough to hold down jobs work for companies who aren’t going to raise the wages.
Over the past few decades, we’ve created a food system for the poor. The more affluent in our country shop in super markets. Everyone else shops at the convenience store, pharmacy grocery aisle, the food pantry.
Because of the situation created in recent years by food deserts, the underemployed or unemployed poor struggle to get enough food to eat while also trying to get the right kinds of nutritious foods needed to stay healthy.
Over the years, food manufacturers, farmers, grocers, corporations, foundations, individuals, and the government work together to provide surplus food to feed those in need.
The goal: give food assistance to the hungry.
Since 2006, the need for emergency food has morphed into an ongoing need for food for people from all walks of life.
The new paradigm is to feed them nutritious food regularly because these people can no longer buy the food to feed themselves.
Many find themselves in this position for the first time in their lives. There are now men, women, and children needing assistance to alleviate hunger in every county in every state in the union, as well as the District of Columbia.
High unemployment/underemployment, increasing housing costs, rising poverty, the rising cost of fuel to heat apartments and homes, increasing transportation costs, and the escalating cost of food make emergency food assistance become supplemental food assistance.
Financial safety nets disappear as congress repeatedly cuts benefits.
Today’s pervasive hunger undermines our communities, schools, work force, and national security.
When people don’t have enough food to eat today, it’s impossible to plan for tomorrow. People with enough to eat work better and learn better. They can build a better life for themselves and their families.
This is what Walmart raising the minimum wage is all about.
Raising the minimum wage a few cents or dollars is not about solving the problems of poverty. It’s about feeding the hungry.
Thank you Walmart, and every other employer in our country who pays workers a living wage. You are to be commended. Hopefully this will start a trend toward employers everywhere paying living wages to workers.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Are You Afraid in the Pantry ?
“Are you ever afraid in the pantry?” the woman asked. She was at a talk I gave about hunger. “No.” I answered. “Never. Not in the pantry. The pantry is a safe haven.”
But, I did understand her question. It went much deeper than fear in the pantry. This woman was reaching out. We live in perilous times. ISIS, police, illness, hurricanes, rapists, purse snatchers, you name it. Danger appears to be everywhere around us.
Many, many people live in fear. Many of those are afraid to voice their fears.
When I write about specific health issues on my reflexology blog, fear is almost always a factor.
Well, there are things we can all do to cope. There’s no need to live a life feeling vulnerable.
For starters, we can protect ourselves. I practice several different forms of protection.
Prayer
Meditation
Visualizations
Preparation
Every Saturday morning, promptly at 9:30, I can be found entering the Fitness Connection in Kingston where I study self defense under trainer Paul LaCroix. I’m there for an hour each week learning finger jabs, wrist escapes, double wrist escapes, elbow smashes, kicks, bear hug escapes, and ground defense techniques. Paul teaches new things every week. Basically, he’s teaching me that my elbows and knees are weapons to be used in case of attack or assault……
Paul’s classes are a lot more fun than doing repetitions in a gym, that’s for sure. And, the added bonus is that I feel as if I’m prepared for an unknown assailant.
And, of course, I feel as if I’m going to be a bit of a surprise for anyone who thinks that as a 70+ year old cotton top, I’ll be an easy mark.
I’ll be blogging more in the future about self protection techniques. We all need these tools because it’s important to feel safe both physically and spiritually.
In the meantime, you’re invited to join Paul’s Saturday morning class. It’s ongoing and it’s adaptable to different age, strength, and skill level.
See you there!
SNAP and Seniors: Many just don’t get it.
Please share this post with any and all seniors you may know. Chances are they might be able to use the information…especially since 1 senior in 7 in our country doesn’t get enough to eat.
Seniors are extremely reluctant to use SNAP, partly because of myths surrounding SNAP.
SNAP Myth #1:
Why apply for SNAP? It’s not worth the hassle. I may not even get much $$$.
SNAP Reality #1:
Most people get more than just a few dollars. Some families receive over $100. But, whatever you get – it all adds up, Over time, you’re going to receive several hundred dollars annually. This $ is yours.
Whether it’s $16 or $160 is not the issue here. This is $$$ that you paid taxes with all these years.
Look at it this way: If you get $16 in SNAP benefits, you can buy eggs, milk, bread, butter. Every penny counts.
Whatever the amount, you are going to be eating better – staying healthier – and using tax dollars that you paid all these years.
SNAP Myth #2:
If I get SNAP, I’ll be taking away food benefits from others who may need them more such as young families with children.
SNAP Reality #2:
There are funds set aside for everyone who qualifies. The funds are federal. No one participating in the SNAP program will be taking away anything from anyone. On the contrary, by using SNAP funds, you will be bringing dollars into your community. You will be helping your town.
Many seniors qualify for SNAP and are not even aware of this benefit.
SNAP Myth #3:
I’ll have to have a face-to-face interview to get on the SNAP roster.
SNAP Reality #3:
Any senior who is ill, has transportation difficulties, has hardships due to living in a rural area, is experiencing prolonged severe weather, or is under the care of another household member does not need to have a face-to-face interview.
In New York State, seniors can be interviewed by phone or with a scheduled home visit.
Basically, the issue here is trust. Seniors sometimes do not trust the process and are afraid of it. Filling out the application can be very challenging for those of us who have cognitive or physical limitations.
A further barrier is language. Many seniors simply do not have the English language skills to apply for SNAP – and they know it. There is another category here: the senior who feels s/he lacks the skills and does not realize that there are professionals who speak the language who can help with the application process.
AND FINALLY
Hunger among seniors is at an epidemic level…especially in New York State. SNAP offers access to a healthy diet which is extremely important for the overall health of seniors.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Monday, Feb. 16, 2015, noon, 16 degrees at the Reservoir Food Pantry
I drove up to the parking lot we use on pantry day. It’s not our parking lot, really. It belongs to the old Robert’s Auction building. The snow plow guy had cleaned the space very well so I knew right away that we were going to have a good day. Then, I noticed that the walkway from the parking lot to the shed entrance hadn’t been shoveled.
WOW. The snow was knee deep along the walkway. Oh well. At least we could park our cars.
It didn’t matter anyway. The sun was out. People could park. This was the closest to a decent day we’ve had in 3 weeks. We were going to be busy today.
I slogged through the snow to the shed and found Cheryl. Minutes later Bob and Tony arrived. Things were improving! The pantry day began itself. As volunteers arrived, we tackled our jobs:
Fronting the shelves in the pantry.
Arranging produce in the greenhouse.
Preparing takeout bags.
Checking to see if the greenhouse door would close (it didn’t). We’d had trouble closing it last week and wondered how it would manage today (it didn’t).
Finding pens that work for the sign in book. This is always a challenge when the temperature drops below 30.
Jean, a new volunteer in her 80’s, found a shovel in her car and cleared the walkway the best she could.
When the pantry opened, shoppers made their way through the snow from the parking lot to the shed. A steady stream of people came all afternoon. Those who had cars brought those who did not. They were:
Hungry
Cold
Grateful.
Everything stopped about 4 so we packed up and headed out. Only then did I notice that there was no feeling in my fingers, toes, nose, ears. Cheryl and I had worked in the shed where there was some heat in spite of the door opening repeatedly. (The wall thermometer showed a steady 36 all afternoon.)
Bob and Susanne worked in the greenhouse where, in spite of the heater, there was only cold. The open door made the whole room feel like outside. 17 degrees.
Prasida worked in the greenhouse for awhile as she prepared to go on her takeout run. Sean and Bonnie came by and collected produce for their takeouts as well.
We are, as a pantry, people racing against all odds to feed the hungry. We do much to make sure everyone receives fresh produce every pantry day. Our new van, just yesterday christened “The Beast,” will be offering more and more produce as the shoppers increase.
Most of our volunteers are similar to other pantry volunteers. We’re cotton tops old enough to have our priorities straight. We agree that feeding the hungry is important. We make time in our remaining days to do the job.
What sets us apart at Reservoir Food Pantry is the number of volunteers. We have many and more show up every week.
The bottom line: As a group, we don’t care if the weather is hot, cold, wet, dry. We’re at the pantry to serve the people. So, as long as we can get the food, there are now options for everyone in the area who is hungry:
Elderly poor,
Employed poor,
Food insecure,
Generational poor,
Homeless (sheltered),
Homeless (unsheltered),
Ill poor,
Infant poor,
Malnourished,
Newly poor,
Persistent poor,
Resource poor,
Situational poor,
Struggling poor,
Underemployed poor,
Unemployed poor.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Awaken The Connection
PANTRIES CAN BE POWERFUL PLACES. Everyone coming to a pantry needs healing of one kind or another. People come to pantries for just that healing.
The Reservoir Food Pantry offers an opportunity for all of us to find a place of connection and wholeness within ourselves.
This connections makes us aware that what we think and do matters, that our feelings and intentions are important, and that we are not alone or separate. We are not above or below others.
THESE REALIZATIONS CAN BE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL. Once we become more aware, we feel more responsible for our inner growth and for all life around us.
Feeding people and allowing others to feed us makes us know that we are all one huge family on this planet. Knowing this concept can wake up the world.
JOIN US. Work in the pantry, shop in the pantry. Participation in the pantry will allow you to experience deeply your connection to all living beings.
YOUR COMMITMENT TO A PANTRY WILL ALLOW YOU TO JOURNEY DOWN A PATH WHERE WE CAN ALL BE ONE AND DEEPER COMMUNICATION IS A REALITY.
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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 6
THERE’S NO WAY TO GET AROUND IT.
Efforts by pantries and soup kitchens to connect with hungry people make them inefficient.
A person may spend several hours on the phone just trying to find a pantry open on a specific day that s/he has transportation. And, calling ahead is important. Often the list a person is working with is inaccurate/out of date.
MOST IMPORTANT: PANTRY SHOPPERS NEED TO DETERMINE IN ADVANCE IF THEY’RE GOING TO BE ADMITTED TO THE PANTRY THEY’RE TRYING TO SHOP AT.
On the Food Bank front, no one can call the Food Bank of Northeastern New York or the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley disorganized or inefficient. The delivery systems, quality management, efficient consumer response, and sensitivity to the needs of the different agencies is above reproach.
How the employees at these 2 Food Banks can soldier on year after year is beyond me. I visit a Food Bank weekly.
I PLACE, ON AVERAGE, 2-3 ORDERS MONTHLY. A Reservoir Food Pantry volunteer is in the produce area of the food bank every Monday. The employees are always courteous, friendly, professional. Never has an order been botched. This is an amazing record when one considers there are only 80 employees (some part time) for 1028 agencies.
Inefficiencies are seen in the enormous labor involved in a food drive. And…the Food Banks thrive on food drives.
FOOD DRIVES TAKE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK ON THE PART OF MANY PEOPLE. An “army” is needed to advertise the food drive, determine and monitor the collection points, motivate people to give the food to the hungry and then take it to the collection points.
Once that happens, the food is assembled at a central point for sorting. Finally, after much handling, this food ends up on its way to a food pantry. Many people involved in a food drive project are volunteers.
Fortunately the HPNAP people in New York State instituted client choice guidelines in 2008 so volunteers no longer spend hours filling bags of food to be distributed to the shoppers.
When food bags were distributed, people would be given bags of food:
which they possibly could/could not cook based on their kitchen facilities.
and which they possibly could/could not eat based on their health issues.
With client choice, the food collected is much more efficiently distributed. ( Shoppers take home the food they can use.
ON THE SUPERMARKET FRONT, THERE ARE COMMUNITIES, NEIGHBORHOODS, AND RURAL AREAS THROUGHOUT OUR COUNTRY WITHOUT GROCERY STORES. We call these areas “food deserts”. Food pantries and soup kitchens replace disappearing supermarkets in inner-city and rural locations.
In a different system:
one where adequate food stamps are distributed to hungry people,
one where an adequate minimum wage meets the housing, transportation, and food needs of a household,
many people now lined up at food pantries and soup kitchens could shop at the store of their choice and purchase the food they want and can eat. There would be profit making businesses in these inner city and rural areas.
But, then, what would happen to all of us who spend our lives volunteering and working so that others might eat?
How could we continue to reduce landfill clutter? How could we reduce dumpster and composter costs?
How could we continue to recycle all the wonderful produce if there is no place for it to go?
FOOD PANTRIES AND SOUP KITCHENS FUNCTION SUCCESSFULLY BECAUSE COSTS ARE MINIMAL. Everything is donated:
Volunteer time
Recycled food which has been diverted from a landfill
Pantry Space.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Do you shop at a pantry? Do you work at a pantry? Do you donate to a Pantry? – Part 4
PANTRIES OPERATE ON WHAT’S AVAILABLE, NOT WHAT WE NEED.
When I think of the monthly food order…three words come to mind:
Donations
Surpluses
Leftovers
THAT’S WHAT WE GET. The items are lined up on the form emailed to us twice weekly. The form lists available foods in fine print. If the email has fewer than 20 pages, I know I’m in trouble.
For me, the most important section of the list is the USDA section. This category usually takes less than a page. No matter. This is the free food I can order each month.
At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we’re allowed 2 cases of whatever items they have on hand. And, I go for it all. This is what I order first.
Right now, USDA staples include small boxes of raisins, canned cranberry sauce, and canned beans. We’ve had these items for about 3 months running. The volunteers who haven’t been working in the pantry long wonder out loud why I keep ordering these items over and over. What they don’t see, because they haven’t been doing this long enough, is that these items will soon be absent from the list and may never reappear.
IN CONTRAST TO GROCERY STORE ITEMS, WHEN STOCK GETS LOW, A PERSON SIMPLY ORDERS MORE.
SURPLUS FOOD IS AVAILABLE UNTIL IT’S NOT. Surplus food, by its very nature, is only temporary. Nothing is permanent in a pantry. It’s not even long-term. The moral of this story is that, in the pantry world, all good things come to a final end.
Even though I know all good things come to an end, what I cannot say is “when”. The stuff will just, one day, no longer be available.
THIS GIVES THE WHOLE SYSTEM A FRAGILE TONE.
THIS ALSO HOLDS TRUE FOR THE GOVERNMENT FUNDING WE RECEIVE. The numbers of hungry shoppers keep rising. The unemployment funds and food stamps available to the hungry keep shrinking. I expect to wake up one day and read in the New York Times that some senators and congressmen just cut off all the food money for the hungry and homeless.
WE OPERATE OUR PANTRY ON DONATIONS. No salaries are paid at the Reservoir Food Pantry. We ask for every penny we receive and hold food drives monthly to supplement our HPNAP food grant.
There is no funding for overhead, supplies, equipment, gas and auto repairs, insurance. The fact that we’re all volunteers gives the pantry effort a temporary feel. People show up and do the job they do until they don’t show up anymore.
I’m happy with an all-volunteer army although some regular volunteers have questioned my feelings over the years. Everyone working at the pantry is there for a reason. Some don’t even know why they’re doing the job they are doing until later when they look back on that part of their lives.
WE ALL SEEK HEALING AND A PANTRY IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO HEAL. Volunteers tell me this is an important part of their lives. People shopping at the pantry help out as well. We receive a sense of satisfaction from giving something to others. Reservoir Food Pantry is in a gorgeous area. The food is the best we can find. What more can we ask for?
I’m not threatened by unpredictable funding, precarious food supply, and increasing demand.
We don’t turn anyone away at the Reservoir Food Pantry. We know what it’s like to be hungry.
Peace and food for all.
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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
