Hunger Is Not a Disease

5 Easy Steps to Your Successful Food Drive

 

It’s easier than you think.

Step 1:

Choose the food pantry, homeless shelter, school, church,  food bank,  or soup kitchen to receive  the food you collect.

Step 2:

Contact your recipient, and learn what items the hungry people need. Try to be specific. Can they only accept canned food items or can they use frozen and fresh foods?   What about pet food?

If they need pet food or food for homeless people, for example, request those items (with specific food item suggestions) at your drive.

Step 3:

Decide how you want to collect the donated food.

The method I prefer is, of course, the one that worked for me several times.   I recommend  this method:

Gather some large empty grocery bags in good condition.

Attach a letter to each one saying something like:

Dear Neighbor:

“We are having a food drive in this neighborhood.   Please fill this bag with food and set it out on your entryway on …………………………..  when it will be picked up between 00:00  and 00:00.  Include am and pm to be more specific.

We need the following kinds of food:……………………..

Your donated food will be donated to ………………………………   Thank you for your generosity.  If you have any questions, please call………………………………….    Signed…………………………………….”

Set the bags out at every address in the area you selected.

On the appointed date, return to the addresses and pick up the bags of food.

Step 4:

Deliver them to the selected food pantry, homeless shelter, school.

Step 5:

Pat yourself on your back.  You did a great job!

My experience with this  food drive method is that people respond positively because you give them bags, tell them exactly what food items you need, and return to pick up the food at a specific time on an exact date.

Thank you in advance for all you are doing to feed your neighbors.

Please post  this article on your favorite social media network.

Share it with your friends.

Have a wonderful day!

Thurman Greco

www.hungerisnotadisease.com

 

I got an appeal letter from the Capital City Rescue Mission Today!

I got excited!

A letter from the Capital City Rescue Mission sent me a thank you note!  Just 2 weeks ago, they sent me an appeal letter, complete with return envelope.

And, today, I got a letter from  Covenant House.

So what, you say.

Well, so that.  That’s what!

When I managed the local food pantry here in Woodstock, I sent out appeal letters every year to a few thousand people.  I never, ever, saw an appeal letter from another food pantry or soup kitchen or halfway house.

My letters weren’t nearly so nice as the ones I got from the Capital City Rescue Mission or Covenant House.

The pantry appeal letters were hand addressed,  printed on a copy machine and hand folded.

Our return address on the envelopes appeared compliments of a volunteer hand-stamping each one individually.  A volunteer got the return address stamp at the Catskill Art and Office for less than $25.

Our mailers went out each year reeking of poverty.  No professional letterhead.  No nice paper.  They were just an appeal from a  group of people who needed to keep going from day-to-day.

But, they worked.  Those letters and the follow-up thank-you notes brought in enough money to meet our needs.  We always had enough for gas and sandwiches for the staff on the monthly food pantry stocking day.

When Guy dented the fender in his car in our parking lot, we had the money for repairs.

When we showed up in the food pantry one day to distribute food, there were no working lights in the basement of the church.

I never quite figured out what happened.  But this I do know:  Richard Spool arrived  in just a few minutes and dealt with the problem.  We had enough $$$ to get all the parts we needed at Houst.

And, this I do know:  The hungry people were fed, the lights were fixed, Richard saved the day, and the account still had a few dollars left.

But, now, back to the story.

Well, today I did.  The appeal mailer came in about 2 weeks ago and I quickly sent a check and a copy of my book (for encouragement).

Today I got a thank-you with another self-addressed envelope from the Capital City Rescue Mission.  (I think I’ll send another copy of my book for them to share. ) I’m going to send along another check.  I’m anxious to see how this plays out.

Meanwhile, if you are  a food pantry, soup kitchen, halfway house and need money, you can learn all my secrets starting on page 196 of my book, “I Don’t Hang Out in Churches Anymore”.  I held nothing back.  If you read this information, you’ll have the recipe for fundraising success.

In my heart, I want every pantry, soup kitchen, and halfway house to be rich enough to feed everyone who needs the food.  I want the food to be top quality – the best.

And, I want every pantry to have enough $$$ to fix the cars and trucks and the lights in the building.

I learned  these secrets at Rowe in Vermont when Kim Kline gave her annual talk.

If you feel you can’t take my word for all this success, get Kim Kline’s books and read them.  Or, better yet, attend one of her weekends (when the pandemic is over).

Remember, in our country, there is no excuse for anyone to go hungry.

If you’re reading this post and you don’t work for a pantry or soup kitchen,  you don’t have to wait for a mailer.  All you have to do is contact a food pantry and make a donation.

You don’t have to send a check.  If you want, you can hold a food drive and then haul over all the food you gathered.  The important thing is that there are many ways to support those who feed the hungry.

And, lately, there are more and more hungry people than we ever thought possible.  Your help and support will be appreciated.

Thank you for your generosity and thank you for reading this article.

If you liked this blog post, please refer it to your preferred social media network.

Thanks again!

Thurman Greco

Motel 19

Everyone coming to a pantry travels down a path.  For many, this journey is a real load lightener.  As the finances erode, the house goes.  And, of course, when the house goes, everything that was in it goes too.

Furniture, kitchen stuff, toys, clothes, tools, garden implements.  By the time a person or family gets to Motel 19, things have slimmed down to a few clothes, a blanket or two, a hot plate, or maybe an electric skillet or microwave.

For the families living in Model 19, the children are usually eligible for the school breakfast and/or lunch program.  But, that doesn’t cover eating at home.  And, there’s no lunch program for the adults.

So…it’s off to the pantry.

Several families usually pile in a car and come over for an afternoon of pantry shopping.  Or, an individual hitch hikes.  In order for this trip to succeed, several guidelines to follow will help:

Try to arrive an hour or so before the pantry opens.  This makes for a long wait but there’s more of a selection right when the pantry opens.  Also, while waiting in line, there’s an opportunity to make new friends and learn a few survival skills if you’re new to the pantry experience.

Bring your own shopping bags.  Some pantries don’t have enough of these much needed items.

Bring some ID.  Some pantries require much:  picture ID, proof of address, proof that other household members exist.  This can be a bit tough if you’re homeless.  Hint:  some pantries require little to no identification

Be prepared to wait in a line.  Use this time to meet your line neighbors.  They can be helpful if you’re trying to navigate your way through DSS, if you’re being foreclosed upon, need your car repaired, etc.

As you wait in line, try to learn how the pantry works from those around you in the line.  You’ll want to know how long you’ll be in the shopping room, what foods are usually on the shelves, what other pantries the people in line shop at, etc.

Don’t be afraid to let people know you’ve never been to a pantry.

Once you find a pantry you can use, go every time you’re allowed.  If you’re lucky, you’ll have a pantry in your area which will allow weekly visits.  Because pantry shopping takes so much time, shoppers sometimes just don’t go if they still have SNAP card money or if they have a few bucks left over from a paycheck.  Your best bet is to go every week.

Why?  Most pantries have different food every week and you may miss out on some real savings by not attending regularly.

Pantry shopping requires a totally new approach to cooking.  So does cooking with only an electric skillet or microwave.

Some pantries have periodic visits from a nutritionist.  Don’t be shy about asking him/her for any tips you might need to help this adjustment a bit easier for you.  Nutritionists  know a lot about the food you are now trying to cook with and they can answer any questions you might have.

Thanks for reading this blog post.

Please share this article with your favorite social media network.

PS:  This book is at the publisher’s now.  It will be available SOON!  You can order it at http://www.thurmangreco.com.

Thanks,

Thurman Greco

Starving Seniors?

 

Starving seniors?  Is that too harsh a word?

Let’s ratchet it down:  hungry.

Or, maybe:  food insecure.  Yeah, that’s better.  It sounds better anyway.

Call it what you want, the event is the same.  It’s your grandmother or grandfather (or me…I’m certainly a grandmother) caught in a situation where there’s simply not enough food in the house.

Seniors living on Social Security are finding themselves routinely choose between food and medicine, food and transportation.  When they need new clothes, seniors regularly shop at the boutique of the closet.

The issues with seniors and food insecurity are serious because when seniors no longer have the money to buy the food they need for proper nutrition or why they can no longer buy the medicines they need, they become ill and finally end up being cared for by their children or they end up in a nursing home.

I know many stories about:

The older woman in Woodstock living on mashed potatoes.

The older woman in Bearsville who ended up in a nursing home when she was cut off from her pantry take out food and didn’t have the resources or physical ability to get to a grocery store.

The older man who doesn’t have enough money for food and is slowly starving to death.

There is food available for all these people

if they can get to a pantry

if they can connect with a pantry offering take out food

if they can sign up for SNAP (food stamps).

I recently spoke with a retired friend.  “Richard, do you get SNAP?”

“No.”

“Why Richard?  SNAP is usually easy to get.  All you have to do is apply.”

“Well, I’m getting by without it.  Let someone else, needier than me, get the money.”

“Richard, think about getting SNAP.  This is something you paid for with your taxes.  Why leave money on the table?”

I haven’t convinced him yet.  However, we’re not through negotiating.  As seniors, we’re in a situation where every little bit helps.

The barriers to SNAP for seniors are great.  Seniors resist going to a pantry, soup kitchen, getting SNAP until they simply can’t resist any longer.  I know the feeling.  We grew up as children and went into adulthood feeling that if we worked hard and paid our taxes, we would end up okay.  We worked all our lives believing this.  And now, there simply isn’t enough.

With this event comes feelings of inadequacy and self blame.  “I must have done something wrong.  Here I am living hand-to-mouth.  I don’t even have enough money for food.  What did I do wrong?”

I don’t like a whole generation of people blaming themselves.  I feel we’re not totally to blame.  The rules have changed.  Because we’re retired, we’re not     in the rules making game anymore.  Retirees are somewhat disempowered.  Whatever happened to the Grey Panthers?

Thank you for reading this article!

Please refer it to your preferred social media network.

The new memoir about hunger in America will soon be available!  I’ll keep you in the loop.

Thanks again for your support!

Thurman Greco

 

Caring Hands

Kingston, New York is a rapidly gentrifying and trendy  trendy little town in New York State.   Almost every day I see new neighbors in this community.  They’ve found just the perfect weekend apartment and are ecstatically, euphorically furnishing it with just the perfect finds.  In short, they are in love with Kingston!

In their giddiness, they have may not have  yet noticed the Caring Hands Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen.  Or maybe they have.  Maybe they see that one of the most important  things about Kingston is that the residents care for one another.  This attitude helps make Kingston what it is – a community we all want to be part of.

2017 is turning out to be  a tough year for food pantries in general and Caring Hands Food Pantry in Kingston, New York in particular.  But, Caring Hands isn’t just a food pantry.  It’s a soup kitchen, and a warming center with a recovery and twelve-step program.  As if that’s not enough, they’ve got  a free legal clinic, too.

Volunteers at Caring Hands, under the direction of the Rev. Darlene L. Kelley at the Clinton Avenue Methodist Church, work hard as they put their beliefs into action daily.  Almost 600 meals are served weekly in the soup kitchen.  Over 3,000 households   receive groceries monthly.

Children, the elderly, families, veterans, and the ill are all welcome at Caring Hands.  The goal is to help people in need help themselves.  The message of God’s transforming love is spread throughout the community from the Clinton Avenue Methodist Church as it ripples out in waves.

It is easy for you to be a part of this message.  You don’t have to move to Kingston.  You don’t have to attend the church there.  You don’t even have to know anyone in the area.  All you need to do is give a little … or a lot … of whatever you can share.

  1.  Sending a check always helps.  Caring Hands always needs money.
  2.  Sending a gift certificate always helps, too.  Did someone give  you  a gift certificate that  that you’ll probably never use?  Well, now is a good time to use it.  Send it on over.
  3. Extra time is extremely valuable.  If you live in the area, you can be a part of this  miracle when you volunteer.  Your gift of presence will be greatly appreciated.
  4. Hold a food drive.  Gifts of food are always, always needed.  If you don’t live in the area, hold a food drive anyway and donate the cans and boxes of food to a food pantry in your area.
  5. Call an elected representative  and lobby for the poor and hungry in your area.  Persuade this elected official to be generous with funds for those around us who do not have everything they need to live a healthy life.
  6. Your prayers and kind thoughts are always welcome.  Those at Caring Hands as well as at other food pantries throughout our country are working hard to bring food and love to a broken community.  They need your support.

Caring Hands has a mailing address to send your check and/or  gift certificates:  CARING HANDS

c/o THE CLINTON AVENUE UMC

P. O. Box 1099

Kingston, New York 12402.

Thank you for reading this blog post.  Hopefully you’ll share it with your favorite social media outlet.

With this blog posted article comes an apology for not having posted often enough in the past months.  This doesn’t mean that I don’t care or that I’m no longer interested in hunger.  To the contrary.  I’m deeply involved in bringing my next book to my publisher.  And, it’s about hunger in America.

Thurman Greco

Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Food for today, hope for tomorrow.

LOCATED RIGHT IN THE HEART OF BRUNSWICK, MAINE, is a hustling, bustling food pantry/soup kitchen, backpack program, mobile pantry, clothes closet/ furniture distribution center.

It’s easy to find – just go behind Hannaford’s to a group of modern, spacious buildings which were the result of a capital fund campaign about ten years ago.  This pantry is nice enough to be the envy of many pantries I’ve seen.  It was well planned and appears to be well maintained.

ATMOSPHERE – small town busy.  Everyone appears to be grateful  to be there.  The pantry opens at 11:00 on Monday mornings. Wednesday mornings, Friday mornings, and Saturdays.  The soup kitchen is open also so  shoppers can get groceries and a meal at the same time.

SERVICE – Shoppers  visit the pantry twice monthly.  The first pantry week of the month offers each household a banana box of staples.   The second pantry day offers a selection of fresh, refrigerated, and frozen vegetables and dairy products which are distributed by client choice.

SOUND LEVEL – The sound level is deceiving.  There is a lot going on in this building but the noise level is quite low.

FOOD OFFERED – The selection depends quite a bit on the donations but on the day I visited, there were many gorgeous fresh vegetables to choose from:  zucchini, bok choi, lettuce, beets.  There was a small selection of yogurt and a good selection of bottled, refrigerated juices and milk.  Bread was abundantly available in the pantry room itself as well as on a table in the hallway.

HOURS – This pantry opens Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.  Each distribution day is about four hours long.

USUAL WAIT TIME – Although shoppers were outside the building before the pantry opened, the wait time is not long.

HANDICAP ACCESS – Yes

TO DONATE TO THIS PANTRY – Send a check to Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, Inc., 84A Union Street, Brunswick, Maine, 04011.  If you want to make a food donation, the actual location is also 84A Union Street.

PANTRY AFFILIATION – To my knowledge, this pantry is a secular facility.

FINALLY – This pantry/soup kitchen is a lovely facility operated by by over 250 caring staff and volunteers.  This is definitely one operation which  strengthens the entire  community which it serves by feeding those who are the most vulnerable.

Thank you for reading this blog/book.

Please refer this article to your  preferred social media outlet.

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Peace and food for all.

Thurman Greco