Hunger Is Not a Disease

The Debate Rages On

 

IMG_2655-150x150An 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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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

 

Hunger Hurts – But You Can Help!

 

RFP-Tent (1)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

 

 

 

 

Charity

 

RFP-Tent (1)

You won’t hear statements like these at our food pantry:

“No  one coming to our pantry gets food unless I know they really need it.  I go to their house and check.”

“We make everyone show ID.  We need proof of address, proof of your children.”

“We make everyone show their Social Security card at our pantry.”

FOR ME, THE VERY WORD “CHARITY” IS CREEPY.   I’m not in a charitable business.  I’m in the business of feeding hungry people food diverted from a landfill.

I love to multi-task and, as a pantry coordinator, I’m really in my element.  The pantry I manage feeds all manner of people a 3-day-supply of food.  This   is delicious, nutritious food, much of which is organic.

Farmers, grocers, food manufacturers, share what they cannot sell.  As I distribute all this food –  left over because it’s the wrong shape, wrong size, maybe the wrong color –  they get a tax break.

Personally, I love the idea that landfills are not getting larger so quickly, that fewer dumpsters and composters are being used.  And, at the same time…sick people, old people, unemployed people, homeless people, are not going hungry.

FOR ME, HUNGER IS OBSCENE.

At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we have  the least possible eligibility requirements.   People coming to our pantry sign their name and check off the number of household residents.  That’s it.

(When I had been a coordinator only a few months, someone complained loudly and a fancy USDA inspector drove down from Albany for the express purpose of taking me to the woodshed.  That didn’t happen.  He approved of the pantry.  He carefully explained to me what’s necessary for our sign-in procedures.  I’ve followed them ever since.)

Basically, if they’re hungry, we give them the food.  Anyone willing to stand in line an hour for food can’t be all that rich.

PANTRIES OFFERING CHARITY HAVE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT APPROACH.    Once we get into charity, we make the shopper feel:

humiliation

shame

inadequate

powerless

desperate

wounded.

When charity and outreach become a part of the feeding, food workers become possessive of the food.  The big question then becomes:  “Are you worthy?”

Charity brokers forget the food is not owned by the coordinators, churches, volunteers, board members.  It has been entrusted to us to distribute.

OUR JOB IS TO GIVE IT AWAY.   At the Reservoir Food Pantry, we understand this concept.  We offer, whenever possible, a service preserving dignity.

In our great nation, there is no excuse for anyone to go hungry because our country is oversupplied with food.

When we feed the hungry, we strengthen the entire community.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

 

 

Books! Books! Books! – For a Food Pantry?

Pantry HND1

One thing no one ever discusses in the pantry is the past.  They speak about things that happened last week or so but never beyond.  Whatever happened before they find the pantry is just not on the agenda.  As holidays approach, no one ever speaks about the Thanksgivings, Christmases, Hanukkahs, Passovers they had before their lives spun out of control.  No one ever mentions  that there isn’t enough money to get Passover food.  No one ever asks a child what Santa is going to bring.

“Hi Thurman.  How’re you doing?  I know we haven’t spoken in awhile but I’m wondering if your pantry can use some books?”

“Of course!  We offer food for the body and now we’ll have books for the soul. ” What could be better?

So, within a very short time, my car was parked outside the door of Lisa Library in Kingston getting stuffed with boxes of beautiful, educational, fun, adorable, new books for children.  While I was still pinching myself to be sure it was really happening, we headed out for the pantry and stacked them for distribution on Monday.

This is a real gift…a prayer answered.  This time of year I’m always searching for things people can  use as holiday gifts.  It goes without saying that gifts are just not in anyone’s budget right now.  (Not in the pantry world, anyway.)

We  have families with children coming to our pantry.    They’ll  go home (wherever and whatever that is) with a special treat this week.

We also have  grandparents with not one penny for a holiday gift for grandchildren.  Well, now, thanks to Elisa Gee and Lisa Library, these grandchildren have a chance to get a gift from a grandparent.

Thank you Lisa Library!

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

 

 

 

There’s all this Food out There

IMG_2647-150x150“While you’re making your way around the room, take what you need of the fresh produce, breads and bakery items.  We’ve got potatoes here and carrots, onions, peppers, spinach, salad mix.  Take what you can eat in 3 days.

“IS THIS YOUR FIRST VISIT?   Welcome!  We hope you’ll come every week.  That’s how you get the best deals.  Come on in.   Go around the pantry in a clockwise direction.  Begin here with a bottle of water.  Now, as you go around the room, can you use a box of cereal?  How about a jar of peanut butter?  We have some jelly today.  Take a jar of mayonnaise, too.”

I was speaking with a new shopper, a young woman who had just come in the door.  She was on the verge of tears.  I  learned  the best way to handle this situation was to  cheerfully guide her through the room.  When a person cried, I  treated the event as though everything was normal.  And, it was normal to see people crying in the pantry occasionally.  If they asked for a tissue, I gave them one.  Other than that, I  ignored the tears.

“No thanks.  I have a jar of mayonnaise at home now.  My kitchen is almost totally empty because my husband hasn’t worked in 7 months.  I’m completely out of food.  But I do have some mayonnaise.”

“Take it anyway.  You never know when we’ll get more in.”  Back on this wall is the USDA section.  Take a can of each type of vegetable or fruit for each person in your household.   That means you can take cans of vegetarian beans, refried beans, green beans, corn, peaches, and tomato sauce.  How many people are in your household? “There’s me, my husband and our 2 daughters.  They’re in elementary school.”

MONTHS LATER HER STORY REVEALED ITSELF.   Her husband, badly injured in an accident, may never work again.  They sold  a piece of land  for money to live on.  One child has diabetes.  Here was a woman struggling against all obstacles to do the best she can to raise her children properly.

I’M ALWAYS PROUD TO CARRY USDA PRODUCTS IN THE PANTRY.   When a person’s kitchen is totally empty, it’s a godsend to be able to take several cans of different foods to put on the shelves at home.  Our tax dollars are at work here.

Let’s consider the United States Department of Agriculture for a moment.  As our country accumulates agricultural surpluses, the food is distributed to those in need.  I always get the feeling that our government is embarrassed by this food.

A much better, more mature, more realistic attitude  is to realize (understand)  it’s impossible to produce only the food we need.  It’s  better to have too much food than too little.

Droughts and floods work on their own schedules and weather is very difficult to control.

CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE:  FOOD SHORTAGES.

SURPLUS FOOD HAS A DEFINITE PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY:

Diverting food from landfills offers communities an opportunity to feed people who don’t have any money after paying for housing and transportation to work.

Diverting food from landfills offers communities an opportunity to improve our environment.

Diverting food from landfills offers communities an opportunity to ensure that children do not go to school hungry.  This is a major investment in the future because children have a difficult time learning on an empty stomach.

NO ONE IN OUR GREAT NATION SHOULD GO HUNGRY.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

 

 

A New Paradigm for the Struggling Class

 

 

reformed church“We’ve got to do something.” I said to Guy Oddo one afternoon.

“Yup” he replied.  “The parking lot’s dangerous.  There’s going to be a wreck out there one of these days.”

“Actually, there was.  Someone ran into my car about 2 weeks ago.  Do you have any suggestions?”

“Well, he said, how about we put a volunteer in the parking lot to direct traffic?  And, what if we limit the shopping time in the Pantry?  Can we make some people park in the town lot down the street?”

So, we did all 3 things.  They kept coming.  They needed the food.

As I return in my thoughts to the depths of the autumn of ’08, the  thing I remember most is  the changes brought about by the The Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program people as they introduced  new produce guidelines and called for a 3-day-supply of food for everyone in each household.

AND, I THINK OF MANY THINGS THAT HAPPENED SINCE.

My mind moves to the present, as we overcome (hopefully) this depression.  Two things happened for sure:

There are many, many new wealthy people – millionaires, billionaires, kazillionaires whose new money isn’t trickling down yet.  Will it ever?

AT THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM, A NEW CLASS HAS EMERGED:  THE STRUGGLING CLASS.

MANY JOBS WERE LOST, NEVER TO RETURN.   Many people experienced the end of a working life during that time.  The lucky ones were able to get early Social Security.  Not everyone was 62 yet.

One angry man came to our pantry weekly.  He first showed up the day after he was fired.  And, of course, it was one of those situations where we all knew he wasn’t ever going to work again.  It took him over a year to calm down from the injustice of it all.  He was quiet about his anger but anyone with a brain and an eye knew what was happening.

In this case,  I felt close to the event.   I saw him go through stages of adjustment:  shock,

anger,

disbelief,

grief,

resignation.

On a national level, a positive change happened, though:   the demise of the Emergency Food Assistance Program.  It’s a food assistance program still, and, actually, nobody has even dropped the word “Emergency”.  But, when I listen to people in my industry talking among themselves, I’m really  aware that everyone seems to know it’s not emergency now and hasn’t been emergency since ’08.

The Struggling Class are hard working singles, families, and seniors who simply lack money for food.    The purchasing power of the hourly wage received at the 2 to 3 jobs we hold continues to decrease while food, housing, transportation, healthcare costs continue to rise.  There is no job security anymore.

I SEE NO IMPROVEMENT FOR THE STRUGGLING CLASS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. This is our new cultural landscape.  It’s our job to navigate this new terrain as positively as possible with new survival skills.

What does this mean?

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S HAPPENING:

PWhen we shop at pantries and eat at soup kitchens, we’re reducing our footprint on this planet.

When we shop at pantries we  actively divert food from dumpsters, landfills.

In the new paradigm, we no longer buy  the idea that what we are doing is charity.  It’s not charity.  Charity segregates, stigmatizes, and demeans us.

When we shop at pantries, our tax dollars are at work and we are on the front lines of the movement to develop a cleaner, safer,  future.

Pantries strengthen the whole community by assisting those who are most vulnerable.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

Don’t go Away. I need to talk to you.

“WE ALL KNOW ANGER.    We also know how it kills our inner peace.  And while most of us like the idea of forgiveness, it often seems a difficult thing to practice, especially when the source of our hurt is up close and personal.” – Mike George

“Don’t go away.  I need to talk to you” the man aid in an authoritative voice as he walked toward me in the basement hallway of the Woodstock Reformed Church.

As I heard his voice, the hair on my neck began to stand up.  I had just walked out of the pantry room for a moment.  Stocking shelves in the pantry, I was preparing for the hungry who would be shopping soon.  I’d been putting USDA canned green beans on the third shelf down from the top of a unit by a window.

“GOOD AFTERNOON, SIR.   What can I do for you?”

“Well, for starters you can stop feeding all those people.  Ever since you started working here, more and more people are standing in our halls.  You’re feeding the unworthy hungry and I want it to stop.  Right.  Now.”  he said with emphasis.

The man standing over me in the hall was fat, old, angry.  His toes pointed outward…a sure sign to me he suffered from a backache.  “I’m Ed Jabbs.  I’m head of the building committee for this church and I want to see your files on the people who use this pantry.”

“I’m sorry sir.  We don’t keep many  files on our shoppers.  We keep a journal where we record their names and number of people in each household.  That’s all.”

WE’RE A PANTRY, NOT THE POLICE, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF.

“Well, you should.  No one should be allowed in the pantry who isn’t on food stamps.  You’re feeding people who shouldn’t be coming here to get this food.  You’re feeding the unworthy hungry.”

“Just last week you gave food to a man who I know shouldn’t be fed.  He’s a writer.  He published a book a couple of years ago and he shouldn’t even be here.  Writers make a lot of money. ”

I’d heard about Ed Jabbs.  He was a story in Woodstock.  He was head of the building committee, was not a pantry supporter, and was definitely not a Thurman Greco supporter.  After all, I reported to the Food Bank, not him.  “This man is definitely a threat to the pantry” was the thought going through my mind as he stood over me.

Forever a mystery, I had heard gossip:  Some church members were afraid of him.  He had once belonged to a church in Saugerties but left after some event when a few members there had had enough.  He was reputed to drive an expensive car with Delaware plates, and lived in Saugerties.

Not a secret:  He very definitely did not like the way the pantry in the church was being managed now.

And, he had grounds.  Before 2008, the pantry served about 25 colorful characters on Thursday mornings and now with the economy in the tank, new hungry people showed up every week.  Lines were getting longer and longer.

The Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program changed our nutritional guidelines to include fresh produce, 1% milk, and whole grain breads.  Before the guidelines changed, shoppers  got a jar of peanut butter, a box of cereal, a can of tuna fish and maybe a can of soup.  Now, they received a 3-day-supply of food for everyone in the household.  Fresh produce lined the walls of the pantry.  Bread Alone sent over bread weekly and pet food was even available.

These changes brought not only hungry people but mountains of cardboard and, according to some church people, vermin.  Some felt we were being overrun with vermin.  No amount of reasoning convinced them of anything different.  It didn’t matter one whit that there was not even one bug or mouse to be found in the pantry.

Meanwhile, here was this angry man staring at me and demanding to see files the State didn’t even require.

“Well, Mr. Jabbs, I can call the Food Bank and find out what files we need.  However, the inspector was here only a few weeks ago, looked at all my paperwork and pronounced everything “excellent”.  We’ve never done anything like this before.  After all, we’re a food pantry…not the police.”

“Check into it NOW”! he said as he turned away, his toes still pointing outward.  Mr. Jabbs turned and smiled at me then, displaying a mouthful of large yellow teeth.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

Food Pantry Blog – Get Your Flu Shot

Flu shots are available in Woodstock now.  Those of us with enough money or with insurance can hike ourselves over to the CVS or Village Apothecary and get “shot”.  I’ve personally been getting flu shots for over 25 years.  And, because of the inoculations or because of the luck of the draw, I haven’t had the flu in years.

Have you gotten your flu shot yet?

When I ask people in Woodstock if they’ve gotten their flu shot yet, many of them respond with an enthusiastic “NO!” and then proudly explain that they don’t do inoculations.

Others, however, explain truthfully that they don’t have the money for such frivolities.  After all, if they don’t even have any money beyond the gas and rent, how are they going to scare up the funds for such things as health insurance or flu shots?

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco

 

FOOD PANTRY BLOG: They Came Up on Bicycles

RFP-Tent (1)

“EACH OF US IS PUT HERE IN THIS TIME AND THIS PLACE TO PERSONALLY DECIDE THE FUTURE OF HUMANKIND.  DID YOU THINK YOU WERE PUT HERE FOR SOMETHING LESS?” – Chief Arvol Looking Horse

 

SHE HAD A BACKPACK.    He had more of a knapsack.  They rode over hesitantly, cautiously, on bicycles.

“Hi” I said in my most inviting tone.  “Welcome to the pantry.  Have you been here before?”  Actually, I knew the answer but wanted to help them feel more at ease.

“No.”

“COME ON OVER TO THE TABLE.   Sign  in.  All we need is your name and the number of people in your household.  Then, start shopping at the end of the table here and work yourself down the line of food.  Take all the produce you can eat in 3 days.  We’ve got onions, carrots, greens, oranges, tomatoes.  You’ll notice that much of our produce is labeled “organic.”  Take one each of the different canned items.  Take a can of crushed tomatoes,  juice,  green beans,  organic vegetable stock.  Be sure and take some Bread Alone bread.”

They walked over, gently touched the food as if in a museum store.  Quietly, between them, they argued over what they could carry home.  It seemed to them we were offering more than they could get home.

“How did you hear about us?” I asked?  I didn’t expect an answer.  They were too uncomfortable.  “We hope you’ll come every week.  We open every Monday at 2 p.m.  And…don’t forget to tell your friends, relatives, neighbors, enemies.  We’re brand new here and trying to spread the word.”

A TYPICAL FIRST FIRST, THEY ACTUALLY MANAGED THE EXPERIENCE QUITE WELL.

They finally agreed on what they could carry and headed off home, wherever and whatever that was.

Most people shopping at our pantry can be labeled resource poor.  The resource poor routinely choose between food and other necessities:

food and housing payments,

food and medicine/medical care,

food and transportation,

food and gasoline.

People in the resource poor category are also food insecure.  They lack, at times, enough food for an active, health life for the household members.

According to the Feeding America survey (I participated in this survey, by the way), about 75% of those shopping at pantries are food insecure and 80% of those households have one or more children.

Food insecurity comes in 2 categories:  food insecurity and very low food security, which is a more serious lack of access to food.

When we discuss very low food security, we know that some have limited access to grocery stores.  This means their food comes from gas station food markets, convenience stores, and pharmacy grocery shelves.

Woodstock and Boiceville are such places.  In Woodstock, two very upscale stores sell organic foods:  Sunflower Natural Foods Market and Sunfrost.  Both Sunflower and Sunfrost also offer non organic foods of the fresh, frozen, canned, and bagged variety.

Both claim to offer non GMO foods as well although, for the life of me, I don’t understand how a merchant can claim  such a thing.  Between the two of these stores, Sunflower has more organic produce and food products than Sunfrost.

Woodstock Meats offers products from local farms which, to me, seems to be a more honest label.  No one is ever fooled into thinking s/he is getting organic food when the case is otherwise.

The Bear Cub Market next to the Bearsville Post Office is an upscale market offering what the purveyor considers to be the very best available of whatever it is he sells.  He stocks his shelves with canned, boxed, fresh, refrigerated products.

Both Woodstock Meats and Bear Cub are totally honest about their products.   No one is fooled into believing that something is what it is not.

For those on limited budgets, food is available at the CVS, Cumberland Farms, and Rite Aid Pharmacy in Woodstock.

Olives and the Citgo Station in Shokan out Boiceville way offer foods also.

Olives offers food for humans as well as pets and a small assortment of toys and household items.  Yogurt and cheeses are available in the dairy case.  They also sell deli sandwiches.

The food mart at the Citgo station across the street carries more beer, chips, candy, and olives than Olives.

Two grocery stores are in the area:  Hurley Ridge Market in West Hurley and the Boiceville IGA in Boiceville.  For the person whose transportation is limited , these stores are inaccessible.

After Superstorm Sandy, the Boiceville IGA was closed for a couple of months because it had water damage.

But, back to the couple on the bicycles.  They  shop at the Reservoir Food Pantry often now.  They’re much more comfortable with the experience.  And, their extremely limited budget has been eased a bit by our offerings.

Peace and food for all.

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Thurman Greco

A Labor Day Celebration at the Reservoir Food Pantry – and, an Open House on the 11th!

While many of us in the area are out celebrating summer’s last weekend, the volunteers at Reservoir Food Pantry are  celebrating as well…but in a different way.

THE PANTRY OPENS AT 2 P.M. ON MONDAYS,  HOLIDAY OR NOT.   We celebrate a Monday holiday by offering food to hungry people who do not otherwise have the funds to get the food.

This particular week in September is always an expensive one because not only are our shoppers trying to buy food for upcoming school lunches, they are out scrounging for school supplies and school clothes for the children.  It’ll soon be time for sweaters and coats.

Prasida drove to Latham  Friday for the produce.

OTHER FRESH FOOD IS  DONATED, AS ON EVERY OTHER WEEK,  BY MIGLIORELLI FARM, BREAD ALONE BAKERY,  SHANDAKEN GARDENS ABD HUGUENOT STREET FARM .

,Volunteers at the Reservoir Food Pantry usually serve about 50 families and households on Monday afternoons.  They serve an equal number of homebound households  on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Food for Tuesday’s deliveries to homebound and senior neighbors is  packed on Mondays at the end of the pantry shift.  Distribution  continues on Tuesdays and Fridays.

We’re celebrating our first anniversary on September 11th between 4 and 7.  Please come join us.  See our new pantry.  It’s in an adorable barn located behind Robert’s Auction in Boiceville at 4073 Route 28.  As someone recently said “You’re STILL open!”

Yes, we’re STILL open!

JOIN  IN THE FESTIVITIES!

The Reservoir Food Pantry is now accepting volunteers to deliver food to  homebound households and seniors in the area.  A route delivery person is needed in the Olivebridge area.  If you are interested, please call 845-399-3967.

If you want to support the Reservoir Food Pantry but cannot volunteer, you are invited to send a donation to P.O.Box 245, Boiceville, NY, 12412.  Please make the check out to Reservoir Food Pantry.

We thank you in advance for your support of the Reservoir Food Pantry.

Peace and food for all.

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Thurman Greco

 

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