Help Wanted at the Food Banks of Northeastern New York and Hudson Valley!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED THE FOOD BANKS
Have you ever wondered what goes on at the Food Bank? Where does the food come from? How does it get to the people?
Now is your chance to participate in a behind-the-scenes event at the Food Bank!
The Food Bank of Northeastern New York and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley have recently received large donations of canned/boxed foods which need to be sorted before they can be distributed.
Your help is needed. Please come join in the project. Food is being sorted seven days per week.
Groups are welcome. This is a good opportunity for a church/civic group, scout group, garden club, writing group, book club. Individuals are also welcome! No group is too large or too small!
To join in this effort at the Food Bank of Northeastern New York in Latham, call Mary Mazur at 1-518-786-3691×268 or email her at volunteers@regionalfoodbank.net. If you would rather volunteer at Cornwall-on-Hudson, please call Andrew Bixby at 845-534-5344 to schedule a visit to help sort the donations.
Thanks for your help!
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
A Food Pantry is a Thing – a Place – a Process
In the case of the Reservoir Food Pantry, its a collection of canopy tents up the hill behind Robert’s Auction House on Route 28 in Boiceville, NY.
But, more importantly, a pantry is also a process.
When a person (group) applies to be an Agency with the Food Bank, the first thing that happens is, essentially, a mountain of paperwork. Included in this paperwork is several pages of rules – guidelines – to be followed.
Examples:
The food only goes to the hungry.
The food cannot be given, bartered, sold traded with another Food Bank Agency.
The food cannot be served at a pantry or other social function.
The food cannot be sold.
The shoppers are to be treated with dignity and respect.
This list goes on and on and on. And, every rule makes sense and is easy to obey provided nobody is out for a scam.
More than the rules, is the process occurring as we, the new pantry volunteers and shoppers, get to know one another. Time and pantry visits are needed by us all to build a pantry community.
For me, a successful pantry offers food as well as a safe haven for everyone, both shoppers and volunteers, where healing begins and continues.
The Reservoir Food Pantry is developing an every-week rhythm that people appreciate, even need.
We gather under the canopies. People walk among the food: apples, oranges, onions, potatoes, carrots, greens, canned soup, canned vegetables, Bread Alone Bread. They choose a three-day supply of food which will last them seven days.
Offering food with respect and dignity and a spirit of community and sharing is essential to this whole process.
More than the food, we all take home a spiritual gift we receive on Monday afternoons. The gift of sharing of oneself feeds the spiritual hunger experienced by mankind.
And, for me, what binds this whole experience together for everyone is the food.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Hurricane Irene, Superstorm Sandy, and the Reservoir Food Pantry in Boiceville, NY
The 2014 Hurricane season officially began June 1. This information is just so much trivia to many. However, people in the Ulster County pantry world are, of course, a little antsy. It’s understandable. We, those of us who live in this area, haven’t gotten over the last two hurricanes. Mold and rot continue to advance on residential and commercial buildings at a fast clip while funds for repairs and replacements of damaged/destroyed buildings and vehicles have in many instances not yet become a reality. Many left homeless, jobless, and without transportation feel to their bones that nothing is ever going to be done to repair/replace things damaged and ruined.
Some don’t believe another hurricane will pass this way again. After all, two horrendous weather events, each producing floods of Biblical proportions are enough. Right? Reservoir Food Pantry volunteers know what we’re up against. After all, we were the deniers after Irene. We learned our lesson with Sandy and now prepare to feed those affected by the next “big one”-whenever it hits.
Hurricanes are very destructive, often ruining everything in their path. Some people include their lives in the “ruined” category. Sam and Mary lost a home, a job, and a car in Irene. They still live in the area, in a rented shed. They walk wherever they go – including to the Reservoir Food Pantry.
Or, if you prefer, you can get us a gift certificate at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley. Call 845-534-5344 and donate money to the Reservoir Food Pantry, Agency Number 2539f. That call will get us the most food for the money. Food at the Food Bank is .16 per pound, making a can of soup cost sixteen cents, for example.
If you access the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley through www.foodbankofhudsonvalley.org, the donate button looms large on the right side of the screen. You can’t miss it! Again, please specify your donation goes to 2539f, Reservoir Food Pantry.
And, finally, if you prefer to choose and buy the disaster relief foods you give to the Reservoir Food Pantry, please drop them off at the Olive Town Offices or at the Community Bank in Boiceville.
However you choose to share, none of your donations will be used to pay for rent or salaries. And, most important, this disaster food will be in the hands of the victims before any other food sent in from outside sources.
Peace and food for all.
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Thurman Greco
The Food Pantry in the Closet – Olivebridge, New York
“We are all angels for each other.” – Allan Gurganus
Not far from Kingston, New York lies a tiny community in the Catskill Forest named Olivebridge. This little community is tucked away on a side road off of a side road off Route 28. Blink and you’ll miss it. Well, Olivebridge has a pantry. I wish there were more Olivebridge pantries in our country.
Members of the Olivebridge Methodist Church built a small closet outside the entrance to their church building. They installed shelves. They put a sign on the door. Their darling little pantry is open 24/7/365. No signatures are required. No ID is necessary. Need food for a meal? Fine! Show up. Take what you need.
That’s all there is to it.
All pantries are different. Some are large – serving thousands of people monthly. Not all communities need a huge pantry. However, all communities can use small pantries like the one in Olivebridge. These small pocket pantries serving less than eighty people monthly offer a much needed service.
If congregations, schools, hospitals, fire houses, court houses, community centers, senior centers, daycare centers have a closet pantry, there won’t be so many congregations with pantries overwhelmed with lines of people outside their doors.
ATMOSPHERE quiet, rural
SERVICE self service
SOUND LEVEL During daylight hours, birds can be heard singing in neighborhood trees.
FOOD OFFERED On both occasions when I visited the pantry, there were canned beans, fruits, and vegetables. There was also a small assortment of pastas with jars of pasta sauce. Cereal, baby food, and pet food were also available. Non food items included shampoos and an envelope filled with grocery store coupons. Empty grocery bags were on the top shelf. There was no fresh produce available.
HOURS This pantry never closes.
USUAL WAIT TIME none
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS none
TO DONATE TO THIS PANTRY Send a check to Olivebridge United Methodist Church, Pastor Karin L. Squires, P. O. Box 1397, Olivebridge, New York, 12461. The phone number is 845-657-8494. The actual location of this pantry, if you want to bring a food donation, is 5179 Route 213, Olivebridge, New York.
PANTRY AFFILIATION To my knowledge, this pantry is a totally independent facility, operated by members of the Olivebridge United Methodist Church.
FINALLY The Olivebridge United Methodist Church cafe and thrift shop opens on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The last time I visited, the menu included hot dogs, orange jello squares filled with shredded carrots, and coffee.
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Thurman Greco
How About Another Round?
“Why should there be hunger and deprivation in any land, in any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the scientific knowhow to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life? There is no deficit in human resources. The deficit is in human will.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
In my quest for clarity about feeding the “unworthy hungry”, I spoke with several knowledgeable people, spent yet more time on computer searches, and read even more.
I made an appointment with the Rev. James Reisner, the minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, located just one block from New York State’s Capital building. I met with him one Friday afternoon on a perfect New York State autumn day. This historic old building on a tree lined street could not have looked more beautiful. The building itself has a rich heritage dating back to the early 1800’s.
The Rev. Reisner’s congregation, while housed in a building very comfortable with our past, is focused on present-day issues and community needs; not only of Albany but also the surrounding area.
Even though he didn’t know me from Adam, Pr. Reisner graciously agreed to see me. We met in the church library, a cozy, bookfilled room just inside the building entrance. He was polite, thoughtful…and very knowledgeable of the Bible. I knew within just a few minutes that I had chosen the right person for advice and information.
He listened to my questions and went to a Bible in the room and turned to 2 Thessalonians 3:10-16 and read from the passage which offered a significant shift in the dialogue.
“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
Now, here was a viable argument…finally. He had me on the right track.
When I returned to Woodstock, I put notes together:
According to Dr. Grant Richison, Paul’s team taught that working for meals is a Biblical principal. the rationale was that as some Christians were waiting for the imminent return of Christ they gave up their daily pursuits: jobs. Then, when they ran out of money, they tried to sponge off their neighbors, friends, and relatives.
So, Paul was writing about those who could work but were taking advantage of the graciousness of others. Paul was pretty straightforward here. He was not talking about those who cannot find a job or people unable to work because of disability or illness.
The quotation: “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
This statement isn’t hard to understand. I submit to you this statement still doesn’t apply to people in the pantry line.
It’s estimated that, in our pantry line, one child in five eats only at school.
Seniors also have problems with sufficient food. One senior in seven does not have enough to eat.
Fully 75% of the people visiting pantries are ‘food insecure’. They lack access, at times, to enough food to go about their daily lives. About one third of people shopping at pantries suffer from very low food security. Many live in rural areas or ghettos where there are no real grocery stores. Their food comes from gas station food markets, convenience stores, and pharmacy grocery shelves.
Many served by pantries experience poor health and lack access to medical care. Easily 50% of pantry shoppers have unpaid medical or hospital bills.
It’s estimated that 10% of the households visiting pantries are homeless. Many of these homeless people have jobs. They simply don’t make enough money to pay rent.
During the summer of 2010, I realized the attitudes of the Building Committee members, some other congregational representatives and volunteers were escalating. I felt pressured.
On one hand, I was trained by, evaluated by, reported to, and inspected by the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, and the Food Bank of Northeastern New York. The people who trained me and evaluated my performance were using guidelines set down by the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP). I was doing everything I was being trained to do. People were getting fed…hungry people who needed food were getting a three-day supply of food which they had to make last for seven days. Some people in the community were beginning to recognize that I was doing a good job.
In the meantime, Ed Jabbs, the chairperson of the building committee of the Woodstock Reformed Church called the Food Bank.
“I’m calling from the Woodstock Reformed Church in Woodstock. I’m calling about the Good Neighbor Food Pantry. Thurman Greco, the coordinator is bringing a lot of fresh produce into our building. We feel that the food is infested with vermin. We don’t want this food in our building. I’m on the building committee and I’m complaining about her.”
I was really in a vise. What did I need to do. Well, for one thing…I needed to get comfortable with the reality
that the town was angry. After all, if my superior at the Food Bank was happy with my performance and the people who shopped at the pantry needed the food, what else did I need to worry about?
So, I needed to do some work on myself…to become more comfortable with my situation and my reactions to wholesale community anger focused at my job performance.
I did two things. First, I scheduled a weekend at Peace Village, a local retreat house having an Anger Management class. Friends encouraged me to not attend this class but it was all I could find that even remotely dealt with my situation. The weekend was transforming. I arrived on a Friday evening in August and met fellow attendees. The class was packed, the room full.
By 8:00 that evening, I learned we were all in the same situation. We were all, without exception, trying to function in a work situation in which a very angry person was extremely unhappy with our performance. We felt that the person unhappy with our performance was being as angry and obnoxious as possible under the circumstances.
As each attendee told why s/he was at Peace Village for the weekend, I heard the same story repeated over and over. Only the setting was different.
“My supervisor at work hates me. She does everything she can to make my life miserable. I feel that I do a good job. Other people feel that I do a good job but she yells and screams at me whenever she sees me.”
“I work in a kitchen. The chef took a knife to me. I know kitchens are tough but this guy is scary.”
This weekend, taught by two very professional women, not only gave insight into our individual situations but taught us about the personality types of those unhappy with our individual performances. I learned how these personalities developed and how these people became who they were in adulthood. Knowledge is power, they say.
The second thing I did was schedule classes with Richard Genaro, an experienced teaching actor in the area. Richard teachess his techniques to corporate senior executives, community activities, actors.
Richard teaches people to cope with bullying.
Richard teaches skills which are inspirational, instructional, therapeutic.
Richard helped me dig deep to find hidden talents I could use in stressful situations in the pantry.
Richard hauled out a huge yellow bat at every class for me to pound on the furniture. He used this technique to release stress.
Whap! Whap! Whap! We could hear the sound of the bat hitting his sofa all over his neighborhood.
Richard, very professionally, never asked for funds to replace his sofa.
I learned how my anger and frustration manifested and how to deal with these emotions. I also learned I was in a good place with my job at the pantry.
“Thurman, are you getting your produce from our Food Bank?”
“Yes.”
“Our produce is very fresh and clean. Thanks, Thurman, for serving the fresh produce. Are you purchasing the HPNAP produce?”
“Yes. The shoppers love it.”
“Well, we can’t get any better than HPNAP produce. I sent Mr. Jabbs some flyers and brochures highlighting the need for fresh fruits and vegetables.”
At the end of the summer, my head was in a much better place. I had a better understanding of my job description and how I should react to the attacks.
To the outward eye, there was no real difference. However, within, I was much calmer. Each day that I didn’t hear from Ed Jabbs, I knew from my training that he was terrorizing someone else. While I was sorry for that other person’s plight, I breathed a sign of relief that I wasn’t on his list for the day anyway. In short, I was doing much better in September than I had been doing the previous June.
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Peace and food for all.
The Dump…and Much More at the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock
“I dread talking about politics because I don’t like politics. Never have. Never will. Don’t understand it. Don’t trust it. Politics scares me.” – Kathy Bates
Bob Otto, a volunteer, visited every car dealer in Kingston and Saugerties asking for a van or truck for our pantry. Sawyer Motors was the only dealer who even gave Bob any attention. Bob got a few minutes with Robert Siracusano and was able to appeal to his sense of community.
“I don’t have anything now, but we do get lease vehicles in. When the right vehicle comes in, I’ll call you.”
And, he was good for his word. In about three months Sawyer Motors called with a low mileage Dodge Grand Caravan in excellent condition. The price was right and Barry drove over, paid for the car with money I had in savings and picked it up. What a wonde3rful thing Bob Otto and Sawyer Motors did for us! We now had a vehicle large enough and strong enough to do all the jobs needed to be done. The car, which we named Vanessa, was on the road eight days a week from the moment she left the lot.
Vanessa could be seen at the dump at least four days a week. On Tuesdays, after we stocked the shelves and made the takeout runs, Vanessa hauled enough cardboard to fill up the cardboard receiving tub at the dump. And, Vanessa returned on Thursday morning with cardboard collected during the pantry shift on Wednesday afternoon. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Vanessa carried yet another totally full load of cardboard on Friday morning before we drove to Latham to pick up 1,000 to 1,200 pounds of canned/boxed food.
Cardboard disposal was a huge part of our pantry routine. For starters, we had to dispose of the cardboard because if we didn’t, we would have been very quickly overrun with the boxes (within two days, at the latest.)
Secondly, cardboard was important to the building committee. Members believed the cardboard harbored “vermin” (to use the committee term.) This could not have been further from the truth. In reality, we had no insects or rodents to speak of. The reason behind this is our boxes were constantly being moved around both at the Food Bank and then, finally, at our pantry. When boxes are “on the move”, any and all self-respecting insects and mice “skedaddle”, to use a technical term used at the Food Bank.
When we first moved into the storeroom, we found a mouse. Once we caught that one mouse, we never saw another one. We set out many mouse traps, ant and roach motels, all around the storeroom in case something came around but we never really found anything.
The building committee objected to cardboard in the hallways, in the pantry, outside the building where it could be seen, and in the parking lot. We were never able to totally overcome this objection because there were no places to keep the broken down cardboard boxes. We did our best to make sure that, at the end of each shift, all the cardboard was removed.
In addition to our regular duties in the pantry, Robert Allen, Richard Allen, Tony Cannistra, Jim Hansen, Bob Oddo, Barry Greco, the Anderson team, and I were an informal committee devoted to breaking down and disposing of the cardboard.
As the shopper population increased on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, flying boxes were seen in the hallway the entire shift.
And, as if all of the above wasn’t enough, Vanessa always worked a full day on Friday. Every Friday, Barry and I drove Vanessa to Latham to pick up one thousand to fifteen hundred pounds of canned or boxed USDA foods. We had a standing appointment in the warehouse at 11:30 a.m.
I placed the order every Wednesday when I called Bonnie or Michele and asked for whatever USDA foods that had turned up on Monday and Tuesday. Our pantry was allowed sixteen cases of each different USDA item each month. In my book, USDA was worth its weight in gold bars. The food was free and, when it was in stock, there was a good variety: canned refried beans, canned vegetarian beans, canned green beans, peanut butter, juice, frozen chicken, frozen blueberries, dates, prunes, tomato sauce.
Each Friday morning at 11:30, Barry and I loaded the food into Vanessa and returned to Woodstock. At 4:00, we were allowed in the building to offload the food in the pantry. The building committee gave us a thirty-minute slot between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. on Friday to offload. We weren’t allowed to put the food on the shelves at that time but we could at least get it out of the car. Nor were we allowed in any other part of the building beyond the pantry room.
And, I never felt we were trusted in this effort. Many was the time people watched us as we unloaded the food.
The frozen food we brought back went in the freezer in the barn.
When we had a food drive at the Sunflower on a Saturday, we carried the food around in Vanessa until the following Tuesday morning at 9:00 because we weren’t in the building on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
In the Parking Lot of the Woodstock Reformed Church
“It’s one thing to wish for things to be different in your life, and it’s something else to have the capacity to create the life you want.” – Sister Mohini
Every week more people came to the pantry for food than the week before. This phenomenon had been going on for months…years; ever since the fall of the economy in 2008. Some weeks we’d get ten new families.
And, of course, they all became regular shoppers.
“We’ve got to do something>” I said to Guy Oddo one afternoon.
“Yup” he aid “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 two weeks ago. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“Well, how about we put a volunteer in the parking lot to direct traffic.?”
“What if we limit the shopping time in the pantry?”
“Can we make some of these people park in the town lot down the street?”
So, we did all three things. Guy stood in the parking lot with maps to other parking lots in town. He distributed the maps while directing traffic. And, we further limited the shopping time in the pantry.
They kept coming, the new families. They needed the food.
Nothing,
not rain,
not sleet,
not snow,
not 100-degree afternoons,
not a totally packed parking lot,
not insults from pantry deniers stopped them.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
1 Corinthians – A Puzzle I’m Trying to Solve
“I sometimes listen to politicians talk about the poor people, welfare and food stamps and notice no one ever talks about the enormous fear that comes with poverty and with the constant state of high anxiety. You feel as though there is a giant boulder gradually sliding down a mountainside towards you. Any disruption, any time day or night it could hurtle down and crush you.” – Sheila Moore
The first time I met the Pastor of Woodstock’s Christ Lutheran Church, she used a phrase I had never heard before: feeding the “unworthy hungry” as she lobbied against the new pantry guidelines set down by the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program. I was mystified. What did this term mean? Where did it originate? I heard it again, off and on, at pantry meetings and occasionally in the hallway.
Because this term came from a Lutheran Minister, I did some research. I went to my computer and googled “unworthy hungry”. Up came a list of websites, all of which referred to the text in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians, a book in the New Testament of the Bible, was written by Paul of Tarsus to followers in Corinth according to BibleStudyTools.com: “All believers are indispensable to the church.” The “unworthy hungry” I heard the Pastor refer to didn’t seem to match what I read at yearinthebible.com which spoke a lot about love: “Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Do everything in love.” Mark Mattison in auburn.edu, concluded “The next time your church celebrates communion, take a look around the room and consider the brothers and sisters with whom you are communing…Drink deeply of the cup of forgiveness and thank God that Christ is coming soon to usher us in to the banquet hall where we shall celebrate with the saints in the body.”
Everything here I read was confusing because I didn’t read “unworthy hungry” in any of the quotes. What was the connection?
If what I read in 1 Corinthians was correct, the people who came to the pantry are not the “unworthy hungry”. They are, instead, coming to receive communion in the most basic sense. Instead of a sip of wine and a bit of communion wafer, they receive the food they need to sustain themselves in the coming week.
1 Corinthians seems, to me, to be more about how to conduct the sacrament not how to feed the poor.
This confirms my theory that pantries are, indeed, religious services, churches if you will. The pantry service offers neither theology nor creed nor rituals. The pantry service works through love. Feeding the hungry is a sacrament.
The “unworthy hungry” term relates to the way people abused the Lord’s Supper. I never saw anybody in the line at the Good Neighbor Food Pantry abusing anything except maybe their feet as they stood for extended periods of time. These people were, for the most part, respectful, grateful, hopeful. They were trying to make their way through life with insufficient money, food, healthcare, transportation, education, spiritual support.
“Thurman, how can you serve food to her? Her son works and she has a car. She shouldn’t get food.”
“Thurman, that woman lives in Kingston. You gave food to a family from Shandaken last week. Our pantry should be for Woodstockers only.”
“Thurman, that person’s car is too nice. How can you give food to a person with a car like that?”
“Thurman, the cardboard boxes from the Food Bank create an eyesore when the church people are entering and leaving the building on pantry day. Please keep the cardboard out of sight.”
“Thurman, you are serving entirely too much food to these people. You can’t do this.”
“Thurman, why are you serving fresh fruits and vegetables in the pantry? You shouldn’t do this.”
“Thurman, you’ve begun to open the pantry in the afternoons. Our pantry should not be open in the afternoons.”
“Thurman, you’re serving entirely too many people.”
“Thurman, you’re serving all the wrong people here.”
“Thurman, you’re filling this building with vagrants and riffraff. You need to keep the riffraff out.”
“Thurman, you don’t serve this kind of food to these people. They’re going out of here with $70-80 worth of fresh produce. This is wrong. I’m going to tell Pastor Sonja, Ed Jabbs, and Pastor Bode about this. I’m very close to Pastor Sonja and she’s not going to be happy. You’re feeding the unworthy hungry.”
“Thurman, why is the pantry open two days each week?”
“Thurman, you shouldn’t feed this food to these people. If they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat anything.
The term “unworthy hungry” was a popular phrase used as the amount and quality of food was discussed. The HPNAP guideline that the pantry serve a three-day-supply of food to include fresh produce, whole grain breads, and 1% milk was extremely unpopular to some people.
The subtext of this dialogue was that if the pantry didn’t give them the right kind of food or enough food, they would leave town…go to Kingston.
In order to understand the situation, a person needs to look at the whole picture.
Pantries are our tax dollars at work.
A popular refrain was that no one who lived outside of Woodstock should receive food from the pantry. Kingston had many pantries, soup kitchens, shelters. Saugerties had four pantries. Woodstock had two pantries. Bearsville had a pantry, Phoenicia had a pantry. Olivebridge had a pantry. Then there was a long dry spell until Margaretville. There were many poor and hungry people living along the Route 28 corridor from Woodstock to Margaretville. Where were these people to go for food?
They hitch hiked in. They rode the bus. They piled in cars. They came to the pantry in any and all kinds of weather.
They were hungry.
The struggle to get food to where it’s needed is never ending. The needs of the hungry were great. All we did, as a pantry, was open the door and let the hundreds of hungry people walk in…in groups of five.
But, that was only part of the story. At the lowest rung of the poverty ladder, it’s not what pantry the household is nearest. It’s where they can get to. If a person lives in Saugerties, for example, and the nearest pantry is open on Monday, it will be of no use to the person who can’t get to the pantry on Monday. However, if the pantry in Woodstock is open on Wednesday and the person can get a ride on Wednesday to the pantry, then that’s the pantry which will be used.
Pantry deniers concerned with feeding the “unworthy hungry” need to consider the source of both the food and the money. The Good Neighbor Food Pantry, a tax exempt 501(c)3 corporation, received funding from many sources outside Woodstock. The majority of the food came from Food Banks located in Latham and Cornwall.
Sponsors are very important to a pantry. Good Neighbor Food Pantry sponsors came from many locations. The Boy Scout Food Drive originated in Kingston at the Boy Scout Headquarters. The food itself came each year from a troop in Glenford. The annual United States Postal Service Food Drive included food from all over Ulster County. Shoprite in Kingston donated money annually. Wakefern Corporation donated funds annually to our pantry from their office in New Jersey. Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Kingston and Catskill donated money. Hannaford’s in Kingston donated food boxes in December. One Saugerties family donated over $3000 annually. Markertek in Saugerties donated funds to the pantry. The ancient Order of Hibernians in Kingston donated money.
The list of individual donors located outside Woodstock is pages long. People throughout the country feel a connection to Woodstock and want to share.
Ethically, in order for the Good Neighbor Food Pantry to refuse to serve households outside of Woodstock, the pantry would also have to refuse donations from businesses, foundations, and individuals outside Woodstock. The pantry would have to stop getting food from the Food Banks.
Funding the pantry received from out-of-the-area donors far outweighed the shoppers who lived beyond the 12498 zip code.
I felt compelled to refer to Jesus. When Jesus fed people, he never asked who they were, where they lived, why they needed food. He simply fed the people. He made no mention of requiring people to show proper ID or live in a particular zip code. Additionally, He never preoccupied Himself with their character. He cared not whether they were ill, wealthy, thieves, criminals, etc. If they were hungry, they were fed.
In any event, both the argument I heard about feeding the “unworthy hungry” and my rebuttal never really amounted to more than so much hot air and anger being spread around the room.
The State of New York, through the management policies and guidelines of the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) determines who gets fed and who doesn’t get fed in a pantry. They are crystal clear. In 2012, a directive entitled “Open to the Public” was handed down to agencies. The “Open to the Public” feeding program policy includes all populations without regard to gender, race, color, ethnicity, age, nationality, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, income, disability, or health status. We do not exclude any population group from receiving services upon first request or repeat visits to our pantry.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Food Banks Are All About Distributing Food To The Hungry.
When I visit the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley or the Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the thing that comes to mind is that everyone is focused on feeding the people.
Food Banks are all about getting food. The warehouse has bays for large 18-wheelers to bring in loads of food for distribution.
The produce area is always packed with both food and agency representatives shopping for food.
Food. Food. Food. That’s all that’s going on.
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, in the midst of all the people trying to get as much food loaded into their rigs as quickly as possible, there are four women at the Food Bank of Northeastern New York who are on the front line focused on keeping the food flowing to the hungry.
Kathy, Bonnie, Michele, and Nora are on the job every single day.
They are the hub of the operation.
Everyone who calls in or walks into the Food Bank of Northeastern New York meets Kathy first. She’s got an infectious smile, a winning way. When I talk to Kathy, I know that all is right with the world.
The phones are ringing off the walls all day long everyday. But, when Kathy answers my call, I know that she’s got all day and a special message for me and me alone.
When I give a food order to Bonnie, Nora, or Michele, I know they’ve got my pantry’s best interest at heart.
Frankly, this attitude, this treatment, this mannerly approach is special. It’s also quite rare. When was the last time you spoke on the phone to someone who cared about you and your needs? It’s been years for me.
The Reservoir Food Pantry is new. The Reservoir Food Pantry is still small. The budget of the Reservoir Food Pantry is even smaller. So, it’s imperative that every order reflects the very best deals.
When I call the Food Bank, I’m looking for the new arrivals on the USDA front. This food is free and because of the pantry’s size and newness, we’re only allowed two cases of whatever USDA comes in. Other than that, I’m after the best deals to be found on the Donation List and the Surplus List. So, I call two or three days each week to get whatever is available.
Then, on the following Monday morning, Prasida and Roseann drive to Latham and Cornwall and pick up as much produce as they can load in their vehicles.
Prasida also gets the order from the conveyor belt (We have a standing 11:00 a.m. appointment for boxed foods).
“Hi Chris. What have we got today?…WOW! Look at those oranges! And those organic apples! What a prize! Onions. Carrots. Salads. Chris, thanks so much for all you do.”
It’s crowded out in the produce room also. Again, everyone who comes in contact with us is there to help us, to serve our needs, support our efforts to feed the hungry.
Inside the building offices there is a whole army of people working hard to see that food gets to the Food Bank so it can be distributed to us. It’s very comforting to know that, no matter how difficult our tasks are in our pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, we have strong support for the jobs we do.
With support like that, we can’t lose.
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Peace and food for all.
A Summer Storm in New York State: Hurricane Irene and Super Storm Sandy
If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.” – Buzz Aldrin
With hurricane season upon us again, I’m reminded that weather was always an important consideration for both pantry shoppers and volunteers in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock. Winters were important because of the cold, cold, cold waits in front of the building before the door opened.
But, summers were another matter altogether. Storms confronted us several times every summer. They ranged from gentle showers lasting a few minutes to hurricanes of historic proportions.
Always a concern in these summer events was the stream running along the side of the church building. Actually, the building was constructed right into the stream and the parking lot was on the other side of the stream. Drivers crossed over a tiny bridge to park.
Often, when rain came, the little stream rose. On several occasions I feared for the pantry. I didn’t fear for the building. It was built many years ago and had weathered many storms and high water events. I feared water would come into the pantry room which was on the lowest floor and right on ground level.
Luckily, this never happened. At one point, during a storm, we were distributing food to the shoppers and keeping an eye on the water level at the same time. The water came up to within two inches of coming into the building.
“Please shop quickly folks. That stream is rising very fast. I want us all to get our food before I have to close the pantry for our safety.”
I repeated these three sentences over and over and over. (As if the people could have shopped any faster. They were already being pushed to their limits regularly in an effort to get as many people through the pantry as we could during shopping hours.)
Then, in August, 2011, Hurricane Irene blew through. The seventh costliest hurricane in U.S. History, Irene landed at Coney Island on August 28th as a category 1 storm and then moved through New York State on its way over New England.
Throughout the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley, Irene caused floods described as five-hundred-year-floods by The Weather Channel.
On the next pantry day following Irene’s visit, people flocked in. They had no power in their homes, apartments, rooms. Some had lost everything. Others were inconvenienced by what was to be a week or more without power.
But, all were grateful for the food they received at the pantry.
Some in the line were visibly upset. It was painfully obvious that some of the people were never going to spiritually, emotionally, and financially recover from Irene. One couple, renting a place near Boiceville, lost everything, including their car. Someone they knew had a room in a shed further up the road on a hill. They moved in. They’re still there. They still don’t have a car. They walk to the Reservoir Food Pantry now and pick up what food they can carry to their home each week.
Within a short time, the Food Bank was making both Clorox and water in gallon jugs available.
The lesson I learned from Irene was to be prepared in the summer. Now, I order cleaning supplies throughout the year whenever they become available at the Food Bank. We try to keep bars of soap and toothbrushes on hand in the Items of Dignity section of the pantry.
Water is available in the pantry throughout the year. At a minimum, shoppers can take a bottle when they shop. In time of crisis they can, of course, take much more depending on what we have stacked in the back.
Having bottled water in the storeroom caused both problems and criticism when people who didn’t understand our ordering system saw case after case after case of water just sitting in a corner. This was particularly troubling to those who saw us allowing people to take only one bottle weekly throughout the year when we had so much in the storeroom.
When criticized, I simply refused to move off the dime. Two things with their own clocks: Food Banks and Hurricanes. I learned to work with both schedules.
When Superstorm Sandy hit New York City on October 29, 2012, the volunteers at the Good Neighbor Food Pantry were more prepared than when Irene visited. And, it was a good thing. Sandy was much larger and deadlier, affecting states from Florida to Maine. Sandy was both the second costliest hurricane in U.S. History and the deadliest.
At the pantry, we really didn’t skip a beat. As the shoppers filed in for food we asked each one about how they’d been affected by Sandy.
Probably half of the people coming through our doors in November were affected by Superstorm Sandy. As with Irene, some Sandy victims were unaware that food pantries even existed the week before. They just woke up one morning to discover life as they knew it to be totally different. To make matters worse, they soon realized they were in a new sociological category: situational poor. Not only were they homeless and scrounging for food, they were soon painfully aware they needed huge amounts of money to even begin the climb back to what they thought was normal.
“We’ve lost everything, our home, our car…everything.”
“We’re doing better than some Thurman. Part of our house is still standing. Our car is not gone.”
“Everything is gone, our home, our car, my job.”
On and on the stories went. Standing in the hall waiting to get food was calming for some. Others were not so calmed during their first visits. They looked around in the line and saw some of the people for what they were: alcoholics, artists, child abusers, children, crazies, the disabled, druggies, drunks, the elderly, hardworking people juggling two and three jobs, homeless, mentally ill, messed-up people, musicians, schizophrenics, terminally ill, thieves, Woodstock’s colorful characters, volunteers.
The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley shipped truckloads of food to our community in the weeks after Superstorm Sandy. In a short time, we served lines of people from the parking lot at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church off route 375 in West Hurley. In all, ten truckloads of food were distributed. This was in addition to food we were distributing to people on regular pantry days.
For months after Sandy’s visit, we ruminated over how to improve our disaster operations. Rich Allen devised a system he called “Buddy Up.” He asked each volunteer to contact another pantry and be prepared to communicate with these people in future storm events.
I went to the Town of Woodstock Board meetings several times and tried to involve the town in our efforts. I was never able to engage the Town Board in an effort to feed people in the event of a disaster.
The Good Neighbor Food pantry had the backing of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley. We had volunteers trained to deliver food during emergencies. What we lacked were community officials who believed Woodstock would ever get hit. And, also, we had demonstrated that we could/would deliver large shipments of food to hungry people without involving the community in any way. Why should they bother to participate? A free ride already existed.
What we did not have and what we needed was for the Town of Woodstock to allow us to deliver and distribute large amounts of food to hungry people from a community property location if a damaging disaster struck our area.
When I requested this, I was met with glazed eyes, stares, and silence. And, really, why should they cooperate? The Catholic Church in West Hurley hosted these emergency mass food distributions now. Why change things? They simply didn’t to get involved if they could shove the job off on someone else.
My argument was that the community had a responsibility to offer a location. In the event of a serious future disaster, the parking lot of St. John’s Church was not big enough. I argued that preparation for a disaster would not hurt.
This story does not have a positive resolution. To my knowledge, no one stepped forward with a provision for emergency food distribution in Woodstock in the event of a catastrophic event.
The Reservoir Food Pantry and its location in Boiceville is now the focus of any disaster prevention efforts. Fortunately or unfortunately, Boiceville residents are familiar with superstorm aftermath.
Restoring normalcy to Upstate New Yorkers in the aftermath of both Irene and Sandy has been lacking. Many destroyed homes and businesses in our area are still not restored. A motel next to our Reservoir Food Pantry distribution point on Route 28 in Boiceville has been abandoned. Shoppers are coming for food who will probably never experience life as they knew it before Irene and Sandy.
Sadly, mold and rot advance without any help and buildings and vehicles do not repair themselves. We need to figure out how to facilitate rebuilding homes and businesses while preparing for the next disaster.
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Thurman Greco
