Hungry People
When an economy tanks, hungry people find the food pantry. The tanked economy of 2008 has been referred to many times in the past few days on the news. References to past broken economies are made every day.
The situation is very different this time, but for the hungry people, the situation is the same.
In 2008, New York got with the program quickly, it seemed. The Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program people handed down guidelines mandating specific foods for the pantry room. Produce, whole-grain bread, eggs, dairy products appeared on the shelves. Crowds and an ever-lengthening hallway line became the norm.
In Woodstock, the pantry attracted several hundred hungry people to its basement room every pantry day. The line formed outside the door at 1:00 for the 3:00 opening, regardless of the weather. Hungry people who visited the pantry a week ago and took home groceries, would today be out of food and need more.
Today, in 2020, some pantries are closed. That puts even more pressure on the pantries that are open. Food pantry volunteers are not only serving more and more hungry people because of the layoffs of the pandemic. They are also serving people who shopped at the now-closed pantries.
When people live close to the edge, they have no reliable cushion. They’ve lived in a situation where they make choices every day: food or medicine, food or rent, food or gas. Now, when the coronavirus strikes, they have no either/or choices.
Food pantry volunteers take precautions. They take temperatures as volunteers enter the pantry. Volunteers wash hands repeatedly and adhere to the six-foot social distancing guidelines.
But the need for food is not imaginary.
Volunteers are realistic. They can’t kid themselves into believing nothing will happen to them because they feed hungry people. They know they’re taking chances. They also know they are doing a needed job. For many volunteers, it’s something they need to do.
There are no words for this feeling.
I have a small thank-you gift for you. All you have to do is email your name and mailing address to me at thurmangreco@gmail.com and I’ll send you, free of charge, with no strings attached, a small book about a food pantry I used to work in – “Miracles”.
Thank you for all you do…not only for volunteering in a food pantry but also for shopping at a food pantry. Your actions are courageous. Following your inner moral compass is also courageous.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
Thank You, Supporters, For All You Gave
The Mowers Meadow Flea Market is closed for the year and I want to thank you, every one, for all you gave and all you will continue to give for those less fortunate. I use the phrase “all those less” because I know you are givers and givers give and give. You make the world go around. Without you and your generous spirit, our planet would be a much different place.
With every blouse, book, and toy you gave, with every hour you spent finding the things to give, with every story you shared and with every social media post you “liked” you brought us all one step closer to living in a better world.
With every donation you stuffed in the donation jar, with every book you bought and every shirt, coat, handbag, pair of shoes you took away, you brought us to an anonymous donation I made – twice.
Working together, made a difference in someone’s life. We came one step closer to ending hunger for those in need.
For that, I am truly, deeply, profoundly grateful.
I look forward to seeing you in the spring!
Thank you
Again