The Pantry
Lord, thank You for the food pantry where I work.
And, Lord, thank You for the shoppers and volunteers I’ve come to know through our work here.
I ask You Lord, have patience as we learn to pray for one another and care for one another. Our pantry work is a glorification of Your name as You work miracles in our midst. Thank You for the difference You make in all our lives.
Lord, You teach us much in this pantry. For starters, You’ve taught us that the hungry shall be fed – no matter what – no matter why – no matter who.
We experience what it means to be new as we learn what it’s like to work with, accept, and feel welcome – both the worthy and the unworthy.
We’re learning that we’re all Your people. We are all accepted. We are all holy. We are all worthy. The pantry is faith in action.
Amen
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Thurman Greco
Prayer for the Hungry – Number 1
O GOD
Allow me to serve the hungry with an understanding heart.
Give me the courage to distribute food without strings being attached.
May I never need to keep score.
Give me the physical strength to keep the shelves of the pantry stocked with as much food as we can pack on them.
Please help me to understand the many needs of the shoppers.
Never let me get so tired that I forget that we are all one group – Yours, O God.
Let’s Celebrate National Farmer’s Week – August 2 to 9
National Farmers Market Week begins Sunday. If you can, please take a moment this week to thank local farmers for the great food they provide our communities. Thank them also for the support we see at food pantries everywhere.
They do this as a project of the recently begun Farm Stand concept, the brainchild of Jan Whitman and Ron VanWarmer. Jan, Ron, and Carrie Jones Ross worked together to create farm stands in pantries throughout the Hudson Valley where the hungry shop for fresh produce at a price they can afford: free.
I visited 2 Farm Stands in Kingston, New York, recently. One is located at People’s Place and the other at Community Action. What an event Jan, Ron, and Carrie put together! Excited, happy shoppers choose from:
tomatoes
potatoes
onions
squashes
greens
grapes
oranges
apples.
By focusing on feeding the struggling class, one person at a time, the hungry are being fed and the lives of thousands are touched. All Farm Stand food is donated by farmers. No local merchant is losing a sale by not seeing customers in a supermarket line because these people don’t have the income to buy any of the food.
The growing Farm Stand concept offers an opportunity to move the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley into the future at breakneck speed.
In addition to the Farm Stand donations, food pantries throughout our area receive hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh, nutritious, delicious food each year from local farms. Much of it is organic.
On the individual pantry front, Migliorelli Farm donates fresh produce weekly to our pantry year round. Greenleaf Farm Stand donates produce to volunteers who drop by before the pantry opens every Monday.
Prasida and Francine drive the pantry van to the Regional Food Bank in Latham weekly to pick up fresh produce donated from Hudson Valley Farms.
The Regional Food Bank owns the Patroon Farm which grows organic vegetables. Their crops all go to the food pantries and soup kitchens throughout our area.
The generosity offered by farmers and local pantry volunteers makes pantry distribution a reality. Those who selflessly share their time make our mission a success. Without the dedication and generosity of our farmers, where would be be?
http://www.foodbankofhudsonvalley.org
http://www.regionalfoodbank.new/farm/overview
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Thurman greco