A real life story of need and what it means to be hungry in Connecticut, as told through a series of e-mail exchanges between me and a female acquaitance recently:
Her first e-mail: "I find myself on the receiving end of the food pantry these days due to my employer's temporary (I hope) inability to pay me. He is currently almost 5 weeks behind. I was able to get some food at the food pantry at the Covenant Soup Kitchen but that is now gone and I cannot return for two more weeks. Tomorrow I am going to the Salvation Army to get some food. But I wonder if there is some place local to get fresh food items such as butter and eggs and fruit? I have PLENTY of stale bread, lots of pasta, dehydrated milk, and hope to replenish the canned veggies and soups - and we're eating a lot of oatmeal! but I feel like my health is slipping due to lack of FRESH foods - my health is pretty fragile -- everything from heart issues to hypothyroidism to asthma, etc -- so I've always tried to eat healthy... I am getting a crash course in what it's like to depend on donated foods to survive. Any advice you have on how to find foods such as cooking oil, eggs, butter, and cheese would be so much appreciated!"
I sent her the link for the Mobile Foodshare schedule from the Foodshare website and told her, "Mobile Foodshare delivers primarly fresh produce. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of sources of dairy and eggs, or cooking oil. We just don't get those things donated too often. Good luck. Wish I could be of more help."
Her next e-mail: "Thanks for the info, Gloria. My experiences with going without food have been educational to say the least. I am really grateful I don't have children to feed. The other thing that's not addressed is pets. I am guessing most people will say, if you cannot afford food you shouldn't have pets, except that I brought these creatures home when I could afford to take care of them - it's just this latest turn of events that have made it a problem. I have a dog and two birds. The dog can eat people food, but the birds cannot. I supposed I could try to find someone to adopt them, but I hope I don't have to. Animals seem to get lost in the shuffle when humans have a crisis - whether it's food or shelter. Anyway, I will check into your different suggestions. I am also looking for another job."
I responded with some information about two pet food pantries I have heard about. Foodshare does not serve pet food pantries, but as a pet-lover myself, I had paid attention to these things!
And her response: "Hello again - just want to say Thanks so much for telling me about how to find Foodshare deliveries. There was one in Coventry today and I got there on time and came home with a lot of really good food - potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, yogurt!!!, bread. I figure I can make some good soup. I just cooked a turkey we were given at Thanksgiving, so we will be eating turkey soup, turkey pot pie, turkey sandwiches, etc. -- am I allowed to go to more than one Mobile Foodshare a month? -- Salvation Army also gave us some frozen meat today and a few cans of fruit, a can of tuna, a jar of peanut butter. We just have to get by until the first week of January when I can go to the food pantry at St. Paul's again. And I guess I can start eating at the soup kitchen... my boyfriend is too embarrassed - he's a member of the church where the soup kitchen is. I told him not to be so silly - we donate to the soup kitchen all summer from our community garden, and I have donated tons of canned goods over the years, so now we are just on the receiving end, is all. I will follow up with the SNAP suggestion. Hopefully, things will turn around soon. Thanks so much for the info, again. I feel very blessed today!"
Are you wondering why she asked if she could go to Mobile Foodshare more than once a month? Or did you note that she has to wait a month to go to the food pantry at St. Paul's again? Sadly, contrary to popular opinion, most food pantries are not like free grocery stores. They tend to be open very limited hours, and usually give out just a few days worth of food, but don't let people come in more than once a month. These are not practices that Foodshare encourages, just the opposite. Foodshare promotes that pantries should have a variety of day, evening, and weekend hours, should practice client choice (letting people take the foods they really need and know how to use rather than pre-packing a fixed package of food), and should let people in need come as often as they need assistance. But local food pantries are locally operated and Foodshare can only encourage, not require, these best practices.
I was happy to be able to tell her that the Mobile Foodshare sites listed on the Foodshare website are all open sites, meaning anyone needing assistance can go to them and they can go as often as they need help.
Her last message to me read: "Hi Gloria, thanks for the info about the pet pantries. By the way, I was distressed to see at Wednesday's group of maybe 100 people (!) at the Coventry church that the majority were elderly. It worries me that they might not have enough to eat. Potatoes and carrots can go only so far. People were quite friendly with each other and that was nice, but I also spoke with two other people who were there for the first time and like me, felt a little awkward. Again, I am very grateful for people like you who make a gift like Foodshare possible. If it wasn't for you folks and the Salvation Army, we would be going hungry this week. These are some crazy times.
"I forgot to mention that a friend -- one I made through Facebook, oddly enough, because she lives a few blocks from here -- sent her son here yesterday with a basket containing a half-dozen eggs, a quart of milk, some butter and tangerines. I had asked her about local social services so she knew my situation. I also am getting a little less self-conscious about asking for food. I went into St. Paul's yesterday with a bag and took four loaves of bread from their open bread shelves and walked out like I'd been going there for months. I knew we'd eat all that bread - it fills the belly! I do believe my situation will turn around - having food helps keep me from getting too scared about it."
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