This was the scene when I arrived at Food Pantry this morning. They had opened the doors early, and 200 people were already inside.
By the time the doors closed at 12:30 p.m., 415+ families had been served. Luckily, we had a lot of volunteers from the Methodist Church that hosts the pantry. I spent most of the morning breaking up boxes that had contained food, then stuffing them into other boxes for disposal. This is exhausting work for older guys like me.
Last night, 40 bags of groceries were prepared ahead of time specifically for first-timers, who didn't get a full distribution today. We ran out of these bags at about 11 a.m., so I switched jobs to prepare more.
This is what each of these first-timers got:
• 1 box of instant oatmeal
• 1 can of tuna
• 1 can of fruit
• 1 can of green beans
• 1 can of pork & beans
• 2 apples (later, when I was running low, 1 apple)
• 3 onions about the size of golf balls
I prepared 28 bags.
Keep your family and friends close, and be thankful.
3 comments:
more pictures of waveland, please
how long is this food supposed to last? 1 day, a week? I guess it is my turn to collect food and donate it.
Thanks for doing your bit. We all should think of this on a daily basis. I keep hearing that song... "Brother can you spare a dime".
Troutay,
Thanks for the comment. The food pantry work I do is as much for myself as it is for others, as I'm trying to emulate an example set by my mother, who is 91 and still doing volunteer work.
The food lasts as long as it lasts, and I can't imagine that's a long time. The pantry is closed next week, so this will have to supplement whatever else they have until December.
By the way, I'm retired, so it's easy for me to do volunteer work. I didn't do much of anything before I retired, so I'm no example to follow. Your local food pantry can make a check for $25 go farther than a wagon full of canned goods you've spent hours collecting. So working people can help out without taking time away from all the other stuff they don't have time to do.
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