Help the Homeless
The world of people who are homeless may seem very foreign – But, it’s actually very near. We meet people every day who are just like us, only they don’t have a roof over their heads.
We can all find ourselves without a roof when we lose a job. Or, maybe a spouse dies. Possibly an accident which leaves physical disabilities is the cause. In short, all it takes is a personal tragedy.
There are many things we can do to help end homelessness. There are many, many things we can do to help those who are struggling with homelessness.
One easy way we can help is to take a little extra food along when we go out of our home to work or on errands. A few extra sandwiches will help. When a person asks for change, offer him or her a sandwich.
A couple of times each year, gather the clothes you are no longer going to wear and donate them to shelters and pantries providing services to help those who are homeless.
While you gather clothes for the homeless, look at your family’s toys, books, and games and select those that are no longer being used. Children living in shelters have few possessions and will enjoy them.
Can you spare an hour or two? Tutors can make all the difference. Volunteer to tutor children in shelters.
Celebrate your birthday or anniversary and ask the people you invite to bring items for the homeless.
Carry fast food certificates with you when you are going out. Hand them out to people who are homeless.
Hold a food drive and take the food to a shelter or a pantry in your area.
Donate your collectable recyclable cans and bottles to people who are homeless. Donate a bag of groceries to a soup kitchen, shelter, or food pantry.
Volunteer at a food pantry or shelter.
Volunteer your professional services. Lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists, counselors, and dentists can all use your skills when you volunteer at a pantry or shelter.
Ask your company, church, school to host a fund-raising event for a pantry or homeless shelter. Items of dignity are really needed by the homeless.
Thank you for reading this article!
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Thurman Greco
PS: The hunger book is really moving along. Things just never get finished as quickly as we all wish. Writing a book requires years and years of research and writing. In writing the hunger book, I have gone through thousands and thousands of sheets of paper and three computers. I have spent years and years getting this story moved from an event in my life to a book which will attract you or not in less than two minutes.
Whew!
Resolutions for 2015
The ad in the New York Times read:
Lighten up.
Get to know your neighbors.
Pick your battles.
Although that ad was actually written for the Museum of Modern Art, it could have been written just for us.
Resolutions at the Reservoir Food Pantry scream at us as our shoppers clearly point the way ahead in 2015. We’ve narrowed the choice down to just a few so we can successfully carry them out.
Resolution No. 1 – Lighten up.
And, lighten up we will. We’ve actually begun to do just that. At the end of every pantry day, we have only a few fresh food items left. Last Monday’s pantry ended with 6 squashes and a small bag of spinach. We can’t get much lighter than that.
In 2015, we’ll continue going to Latham weekly and returning with food to distribute on that day to the many who come and those we deliver food to. No longer will we be bringing 5 or 6 of something to the pantry. We’re going to be looking for items that have 80+ available. If we can’t find 80+ of something, it won’t come in the van.
Reservoir Food Pantry food is both a supplement to what people can find in other places and a necessity for those whose income doesn’t last the entire month. We’re not a pantry anymore. We’re a food distribution center.
Resolution No. 2 – Get to know our neighbors.
Although we’ve only been open since 2013 and we’ve had very little “press”, word is spreading rapidly. A pantry is a community within a community. It’s important now for Reservoir Food Pantry to open its doors so everyone in the area knows about us, understands us, knows our mission.
Resolution No. 3 – Pick your battles.
Fighting hunger is not for sissies. The effort required to take on this fight is larger than life almost. The rewards are also larger than life. We need volunteers to help distribute food. Not only do we have more people shopping at our pantry, we also have more home bound people requesting services.
We need people to:
help deliver food to the homebound.
work in the pantry itself on Monday afternoons.
dispose of the mountains of cardboard we generate every Monday afternoon.
bring the monthly shipment over from Kingston.
If you’re interested in working in the pantry, please join us on Mondays at noon at the pantry. Or, call me at 845-399-3967. Those who help in the pantry understand the importance of the work and get much pleasure from it. They realize what they are doing is necessary and they get very attached to the job.
The economy has changed dramatically since 2005. Both Irene and Sandy contributed much to local changes. Food stamp cuts have all but removed any safety net a person may have had.
Reservoir Food Pantry offers a client food distribution system where the hungry shop weekly with dignity for fresh produce, baked breads, and canned and packaged goods. People come to the pantry for healthy foods to sustain themselves and their households. We deliver food to those who cannot come to the pantry.
When we feed people, we strengthen the entire community as we assist those who are most vulnerable.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Thurman Greco
