FOOD PANTRY BLOG: They Came Up on Bicycles
“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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Think Globally – Act Locally at the Food Pantry
“It doesn’t solve the problem” she said. “We should be solving the problem.”
WE WERE STANDING IN THE HALLWAY OF THE PANTRY. Hungry people jammed the place. Even with the heat turned off, it was warm, just from the body heat of the crowd. Someone had invited her over in hopes she’d see the people and be motivated to write a generous check to the pantry.
THE WHOLE SCHEME BACKFIRED. “There was an ad in the paper on Sunday” she said. “These people should all be out applying for jobs.”
Yeah. Right. We’ll all line up and apply for the job you saw listed, I thought. Besides that, many of these people have jobs. Some of them have more than one job.
“Well, I can see your point,” I replied. Certainly, on some levels, a pantry does not solve the problem. However, there are many problems to be solved when we talk hunger. “Pantries do solve some of the problems.”
Take, for example, the problem of food waste and landfills.
We need to all understand where the food fed to people in pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters comes from. It’s mostly diverted from the landfill. This diversion can reduce the waste stream, thus saving much money on local, state, and national levels. Currently, the amount of food discarded annually amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars according to the recent Feeding America survey.
FOOD SERVED IN OUR PANTRY IS DONATED FROM GROCERY STORES, FARMS, FOOD MANUFACTURERS. It’s delicious, nutritious, beautiful, mostly organic produce which should never have gone to the landfill to begin with.
For the most part, pantry and soup kitchen workers are volunteers doing a necessary job for no money. This is our tax dollars at work.
THE FOOD IS AVAILABLE. The people are hungry. When people shop at a pantry, they may save money which they can later circulate in the community.
Even though many elected officials are very much against SNAP, the funds spent with this program go directly into the community. This is a financial boost that every town, hamlet, and city can use.
WE ARE A NATION WITH FEW PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS. Our country’s oil industry has powerful lobbyists who leverage enough influence so their clients pay no taxes.
To feed the poor of our nation with surplus food offers them the opportunity to put more gas in their cars and get to more of the low-wage jobs they hold down. The trend is toward a person working 2 or 3 jobs. If we are too rough on the poverty stricken struggling people, they won’t be able to get to their jobs and then where will we all be?
We need more pantries to make more food more available. We need pantries in schools, churches, synagogues, town halls, hospitals, anywhere people congregate.
WE WANT TO AVOID HAVING PEOPLE DYING OF HUNGER.
Peace and food for all.
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I Need a Gun in the Food Pantry
“There is nothing that can’t be solved by the use of high explosives.” – Joshua Garner
“I’d like to get an application for a gun permit, please.” I said, the only little old gray haired lady in the room. I was finally first in line at the government office at Golden Hill in Kingston.
The counter person, an overweight man in his 50’s, could hardly contain his laughter as he handed me the form. “That’ll be $5 please, miss.”
I handed him the money and started to walk away. Then, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I turned around to him and said pleasantly “Will you sell me 3 more applications, please? I forgot the girls in my Senior Yoga class asked me to get applications for them, too.”
I pulled out $15 more and put the money on the counter. The man gave me three more applications and then I walked away. I had no idea who I was going to give the applications to but I remembered the old “Alices Restaurant” song about three people or more people doing something and being a movement.
When I got home in Woodstock, Barry was sitting on the sofa surrounded by his cats as he read the latest thriller. “Hi Thurman. How’re you doing?” he asked without looking up as he took a few grapes from a large fruit filled bowl on a table beside the sofa. .
“I WANT TO LEARN TO SHOOT A GUN. I want a gun.” I replied. “I got the application today and I want you to teach me to shoot a gun.”
“What!?”
“I want you to teach me to shoot a gun. I know you can. You didn’t spend all those years sneaking off to the CIA and NSA without knowing how to use a gun. They even gave you a medal or award or something at the CIA once. For all I know, you’re a damn bazooka expert. Maybe I want to learn that too.”
“YOU CAN’T DO THAT! You might accidentally shoot one of the Chihuahuas.”
“Well, I’m tired of asking pantry volunteers to be bodyguards. It’s not safe when I’m working in the pantry after hours. I haven’t felt safe since that incident with Mike and Mike and the air conditioner. And, I’m not one bit afraid of the shoppers.”
“Listen, I know your job is difficuIt Thurman. Not even a Marine drill sergeant would do what you’re doing. But I don’t know about a gun.”
“I know, I know. I should be more comfortable with everything that’s happening. After all, I did live fifty miles from headhunters in Venezuela but that was all a long time ago. This is the 21st century. That Maglite I bought a while back just isn’t the same as a club. I need something more powerful.
“I’ve lived with guns my whole life.” I continued. “My father wore a pistol every day to work in his law office. Everyone in my family carried guns and had rifles in their cars. My grandmother kept a rifle in her bathroom.”
” TG-YOU’RE JUST NOT THE GUN TYPE. I don’t care what you say about your relatives carrying arms. Besides that, I sold my last gun years ago. What about a knife? Let me teach you to use a knife. A good knife will cost much less and you won’t need a permit. You won’t need bullets. It won’t require maintenance. It’ll be easier to carry and use. I’ll give you lessons. Nobody will ever know. Leash up the Chihuahuas. We’re going to Warren Cutlery right now.”
And, so he did. He took me to Warren Cutlery. I held several different knives to see how they fit in my palm. My first choice didn’t pass muster. “That knife is too big and too heavy” Barry said as he pointed to a smaller model. “You need something small enough that you can open quickly. If you’re too slow, your attacker will have you down before you get it open.”
So, I chose a smaller, lighter model that happened to be on sale.
And, off we went. He taught me to use and carry a knife. He taught me how to open it quickly but never bothered with teaching me to close it fast. “That part’s not important” he said as he helped me practice.
And, he was right. A knife is quiet. It weighs less than a gun. I don’t need a permit. I don’t have to worry about shooting one of the Chihuahuas by accident. And, unless I go through a metal detector before I take it out of my purse, no one has a clue. I’m just a sweet little old gray haired lady in a Prius tootling down the road 5 miles below the speed limit.
Before it was all over, he bought me a second knife…a smaller one which I kept open on the counter in the pantry ostensibly to open cardboard boxes.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman
School Days Are Here Again! – feeding the hungry
NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I EVER THINK I WOULD WRITE THIS BLOG POST. NEVER.
Hunger is a condition. It accompanies malnourishment. As Mark Bittman of the New York Times said: “Hunger can lead to starvation; starvation to death.“
School supplies, school clothes, shoes, coats, sweaters, lunches, snacks.
WHERE ARE ALL THESE THINGS TO COME FROM FOR THE HOUSEHOLD WHERE THE ONLY THING IN ABUNDANCE IS THE INSIDE OF AN EMPTY REFRIGERATOR?
Nationwide, 17 million children go to bed at night hungry. In many of these households, parents and older siblings go hungry so the younger ones can eat.
FOOD INSECURE SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE A MUCH HARDER TIME LEARNING THAN THEIR WELL FED CLASSMATES. Statistics from the Feeding America survey tell us that one child in five eats only as school. Food Banks try to fill this gap by offering backpack programs in tandem with Food Pantries and Elementary Schools. Lucky is the child leaving school Friday afternoons with a backpack filled with nourishing food to eat over the weekend.
There are few to no Backpack Programs in our area so the volunteers at the Reservoir Food Pantry work overtime to secure enough food for families with school children.
Only 2 weeks ago pantry volunteers were outside the Kingston Walmart for three days soliciting peanut butter and jelly for school sandwiches. These volunteers will return on September 4th, 5th, and 6th to ask for food for school lunches.
On Saturday, September 27th, we’ll be outside the Boiceville IGA asking for food for school children also.
If you can drop by either of these places with a donation, we’ll be extremely grateful. If you can’t make it and want to send a donation, please send it to Reservoir Food Pantry, P.O.Box 245, Boiceville, NY 12412. Either way: dropping by the store or sending a check, we’re grateful. The food will be used to feed hungry children.
CHILDREN LEARN BETTER WHEN THEY RECEIVE NEEDED NUTRITIOUS FOOD.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings: Preparing for the next Big One
“If one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and they won’t take him. And, if two people do it, in harmony, they may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either one of them. And if three people do it, three, can you imagine three people walking in singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out, they may think it’s an organization.” – Arlo Guthrie
Disaster Preparedess, Response, and Recovery
Hudson Valley Farm Fresh
Shelter Committee
Volunteer Workforce
Feeding Committee
Community Animal Response Team
The list continues. Groups have been meeting for months.
THE FOCUS IS ON THE NEXT BIG ONE. I’ve attended some because, as a pantry coordinator, I’ll be involved somehow. After a hurricane or other disaster, the people visiting a pantry can be frightened, confused.
A pantry coordinator after Irene and Sandy, I experienced first hand the face of tragedy worn by the shoppers after they lost homes, jobs, cars.
AFTER IRENE AND SANDY, I TRIED TO INTEREST WOODSTOCK PEOPLE IN PREPARING FOR THE NEXT BIG ONE. I was too soon. The response was silence and cold stares.
Now, a group works to minimize future damage. The thought, planning, preparation, is significant, thorough, detail oriented. Many people are important in this endeavor: Michael Berg from Family, Robert Lamoree from Community Action, and Michael Raphael from American Red Cross. Beth McLenden from UlsterCorps, John Scott from Bruderhof, Stacey Rein and Su Marcey from United Way, and a deeply involved group supporting these people. Representatives from FEMA, Homeland Security, Office of the Aging, Alcoa are doing their part to move this preparations along.
THERE ARE OTHERS – MANY OTHERS. What’s important is not the names. Everyone does whatever is necessary to minimize disaster damage and to be more effective responders:
They’re seeking out community leaders and residents to identify shelters, feeding stations.
They’re planning innovative strategies to reach more people.
They’re making efforts to identify those who will need assistance.
They’re working to get as many people trained as possible.
FOR MANY, THE EFFORTS ARE HERCULEAN I see legacies being left as people work. I see careers boosted. But, let me state here: I don’t think even one person is focused on either legacy or career ladders. Everyone is focused on disaster preparation, response, and relief.
Every Monday afternoon at 2, Reservoir Food Pantry volunteers gather behind Robert’s Auction and distribute food to people whose lives were seriously impacted by Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. Many still do not have their lives repaired.
Our disaster preparation focus at the pantry is how to feed shoppers during and after a disaster. We’re trying to identify the older homebound persons who might not be on anyone else’s radar screen.
FOR THIS, ‘HYPER LOCAL KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED’. Unfortunately, Ulster County is a large, diverse plot of land. Few know the entire county intimately. Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Committee people are scouring the entire county and gathering information, planning…working hard to have Ulster County ready for the next Big One.
ARE YOU INTERESTED?
On Tuesday, August 26th at 10 am, there will be a Phoenicia/Shandaken Area Disaster Workforce Planning Meeting at St. Francis deSales Parish Hall in Phoenicia at 109 Main St.
YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE AREA WILL BE A GREAT HELP HERE IF YOU CAN ATTEND AND CAN SHARE.
On Tuesday, September 2nd from 5 to 9 pm, there will be an introductory training at the Ulster County Sheriff’s office, 380 Boulevard, in Kingston. I’m going to attend this one. Can you come too?
And, on Saturday, October 18th, Alcoa/American Red Cross will sponsor an Emergency Preparedness Event from 10:30 am to 3 pm at Alcoa Fastening Systems, 1 Corporate Drive, Kingston.
COME IF YOU CAN.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Why Don’t You All Go Out and Get a Job?
I’m sorry I’m late to work in the pantry today Thurman. I promise it won’t happen again. I was over at the pet store until just now unpacking and stacking the dog food. They gave me food for Chloe and Freedy in exchange for working today. I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Alice, don’t worry at all. Robyn happened by. Sometimes I think this pantry is charmed. People always surface when we need them. It’s very important for you to get pet food and you know how the building committee feels about pet food in the pantry.”
WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN NEED OF A PANTRY? Why are there so many people in our country today? What is happening?
Employment opportunities are a large part of the problem. People find themselves down and out in places where there are few jobs. Young people graduate from high school or college and can’t find employment.
The downturn of 2008 erased many job opportunities. When the economy finally does recover, many of these jobs won’t be returning. My fear is that the recovery will create a new, large class of citizens permanently living in the poverty of underemployment and unemployment.
WE’VE ALREADY GOT A TERM FOR THIS GROUP: THE STRUGGLING CLASS.
Education costs are a factor. Fewer and fewer people can afford college these days. Some are afraid of the college loans they might not be able to pay off. One young woman in our line works 60 hours weekly in low wage jobs to repay her loan.
A fairly common question I hear in the pantry line is “Are you working on or off?” What they’re finding out with the question is how many hours a person is working on the books and how many hours off the books. Not only is this illegal but it’s robbing our younger generation of any benefit accrual, and the opportunity to pay taxes.
I ALSO HEAR STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THEIR WAGES STOLEN BY EMPLOYERS. HUNGER ACTION NETWORK DESCRIBES THIS AS AN EPIDEMIC.
Our country needs to make a few fundamental attitude adjustments.
One important shift is to realize that food stamps, food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters are no longer emergency concepts. They are a new way of life in 21st century America. When we accept this fact, the shame factor will be removed and seniors and children will sleep better at night unaccompanied by their old friend hunger.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman
Grandpa Woodstock
I’LL NEVER KNOW WHY THEY THREW HIM IN THE SLAM LAST WEEK. I MEAN…WHY NOW?
Father Woodstock, Grandpa Woodstock, or whatever you called him, showed up here almost 20 years ago. The story goes that he was homeless. At least, that’s what he told me in the pantry one day. “I’m the luckiest man in the world Thurman. I lived a homeless life all these years until I found the lovely Lady Estar. And, here I am now, married to a beautiful woman with 3 houses.”
Father Woodstock, Lady Estar, and their beloved dog Hector, visited the pantry every Wednesday afternoon right according to schedule. Hector waited outside the door in the colorful cart Father Woodstock had made for Lady Estar. Hector had a special little seat in the back of the cart. As far as I know, he never tried to jump out.
The only time they missed a pantry afternoon was when they took the bus somewhere and went on a vacation to get out of the heat in Woodstock. Maybe THAT has something to do with why he was arrested. He and Lady Estar didn’t go anywhere this August. Our summer this year was just too cool and too wonderful.
BUT, THAT’S GETTING AHEAD OF THE STORY.
Father Woodstock came to town and became the most colorful of the colorful. Everyone loves him…especially every woman he comes in contact with. I, personally, loved him more than the others when he came into the pantry carrying his walking stick with the horn attached.
“YOU LOOK LOVELY TODAY!” he always said with feeling as he tooted the horn for emphasis. “Toot. Toot.” My heart melted. Because, in reality, working in the pantry was tough with watchers counting the minutes, checking the hallway lines, complaining about the cardboard, and me feeding the unworthy hungry. For the few minutes that Father Woodstock came in the pantry to shop, none of it mattered.
LONGTIME RESIDENTS RECALL THAT FATHER WOODSTOCK PACKED UP HIS WORLDLY POSSESSIONS AND TOOK OFF FOR BIXBY, ARIZONA EACH WINTER ON THE BUS. Boy, that must have been a trip! I can just see Father Woodstock now, entertaining everyone with stories, peace sign salutes, and telling all the women how beautiful they were. I think I would’ve loved the trip. There never would have been a dull moment, that’s for sure. Toot. Toot.
ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO, FATHER WOODSTOCK AND LADY ESTAR FELL IN LOVE. What a pair! They’re perfect for each other.
As they wwere out in public, he and Lady Estar were always beautifully dressed. They both wore silk…flowing silk skirts and beautiful silk kimonos. They had a nice selection of lovely silk jackets. Their wardrobes consisted mostly of floral prints in their favorite color: red.
BOTH FATHER WOODSTOCK AND LADY ESTAR WORE THEIR DRESSES AND SKIRTS LONG. Their toenails were always painted. They wore Teva sandals. They both had long flowing silky silver hair and beards.
Father Woodstock liked to come to the small pantry weekly and choose foods he and Lady Estar could serve to the homeless people they entertained. As he chose apples, oranges, carrots, he commented to other women shoppers how beautiful they were. “Toot. Toot.”
THE MAN MAY NOT HAVE MEANT A WORD OF IT…HE PROBABLY DIDN’T MEAN A WORD OF IT. Now that I think about it, Father Woodstock was probably the best actor in town. But, nobody cared. For the moment, life was beautiful.
So, here we have a scene…a pattern…a reputation. Father Woodstock conducted himself in a certain fashion all these years in Woodstock. Everyone knew him, residents and tourists alike. He trained us all to smile when he came around. He trained us to gather around and ooh and aah when he posed for photographs with a peace smile and sign. “Toot. Toot.”
IN HIS OWN WAY, FATHER WOODSTOCK WAS AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE TOWN OF WOODSTOCK. People came from far corners of the globe as well as just one or two towns down to catch a glimpse of him, his colorful cart, and his peace sign. In his own way, he brought much money to Woodstock because when the people came to see him, they also bought a cup of coffee, a meal, a “find” at the flea market, a pair of shoes at Pegasus, or a necklace at Gwen’s Gems.
AND, NOW, HE’S IN JAIL IN LIEU OF $50,000 CASH OR $100,000 BOND BAIL.
So, if he’s been possessing and selling drugs, paraphernalia, and pharmaceutical equipment for the past twenty years, why did they wait until the full moon in August, 2014, to throw him in the slam?
Oh well, that’s Woodstock for you.
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Peace and food for all.
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
Thank You to Everyone Who Helps Out
THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY OPENED LAST SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, TO VERY LITTLE FANFARE. As we approach our one-year anniversary, I am amazed at the number of people we are serving. We offer food weekly behind Robert’s Auction on Monday afternoons at 2:00. We deliver food to one senior community on Tuesdays. We deliver food to another community on Fridays. In between, volunteers deliver food to homebound individuals in the area.
Our success is the result of much thought, work, and planning on the part of the volunteers, and generosity on the part of area residents who provide food and funds whenever asked.
AS A NEW PANTRY IN THE FOOD BANK SYSTEM, WE’RE CONTINUALLY BUYING FOOD, GASOLINE, REPAIRS, OFFICE SUPPLIES, INSURANCE. We cannot ever, not in our wildest dreams, provide this much food to this many hungry people without the support of those around us .
You, our friends and neighbors, open your wallets and kitchen cabinets every time we ask.
Monthly, pantry volunteers stand at the entrance to the Kingston Walmart for three days asking for food and/or money to feed the hungry. The generosity of the Walmart employees allowing us to solicit for funds and the generosity of the store shoppers responding to our plea is mind boggling. We will be standing in front of the Walmart today, Thursday, and Friday.
EVERY OTHER MONTH, WE’RE OUTSIDE THE BOICEVILLE IGA ASKING FOR FOOD. People are always very generous to our plea.
We receive weekly food donations from Bread Alone, Migliorelli’s, and Shandaken Gardens.
I CANNOT EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE ANY MORE PLAINLY THAN THIS: without your help, our pantry cannot exist.
Thank you.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
A Vision Quest at My Desk
IT SITS IN A CORNER OF MY HEALING SPACE – MY DESK.
It barely holds my laptop, the desk is so large in my life. For, at this desk, I am on a vision quest.
Some of my friends went on Vision Quests over twenty years ago when we were all in our fifties. These adventures mostly included travel to places like Macchu Picchu, or boating down the Amazon, or living in an ashram in India…things like that.
TO A WOMAN, EVERY ONE RETURNED REFRESHED, RENEWED, SPIRITUALLY AWAKENED…CHANGED.
Well, I’m on a vision quest now…at my neighborhood food pantry in scenic Upstate New York where I’ve seen things, heard things, felt things, learned things that I never would have even in my wildest dreams thought possible before 2005.
I’ve had the unique and precious pleasure to become intimately involved with artists, child abusers, children, church committees, church boards, crazies, the disabled, druggies, drunks, elderly men and women, hardworking people juggling two and three jobs, homeless, mentally ill, messed up people, ministers, monks, musicians, pastors, people battling terminal illness, poets, politicians, priests, rabbis, schizophrenics, thieves, veterans, volunteers, Woodstock’s colorful characters, writers in that tiny pantry room.
I’VE SCOURED THE COUNTRYSIDE LEARNING THE MEANING OF THE TERM ‘UNWORTHY HUNGRY.’
I’ve seen people in the depths of despair regain their dignity.
I’VE LEARNED TO FIGHT FOR WHAT I KNOW IS RIGHT, JUST, FAIR.
I’ve done many hundreds of other things too…including becoming a student at Gotham.
For the past year, in classes taught by Melissa Petro, Carl Capotorto, Allison Stein, Michael Leviton, and Cullen Thomas, I chronicled these conflicts. The skills I learned offer even more adventures.
I’M ON THIS ADVENTURE TO THE FINISH NOW. Last year, I didn’t even know what a blog looked like and now I’ve got two.
The first, I began in January, is a textbook on Reflexology which I’ve been teaching from for years.
The second blog, “Hunger is not a Disease”, is the story of hunger as told through the eyes of a small town food pantry.
On behalf of hungry people everywhere who frequent food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, I thank you for reading this blog/book.
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Peace and Food for all.
Thurman Greco
