I thought it might be interesting to some folks to have an insider's view of what goes into running a pantry.
Note that this time of year is busier than others, not only because more people come for assistance, but also because there are more food drives and donations to manage. I could do the same type of posts 2 months from now and it might be very different.
Still, here is my week so far.
Sunday
Great service this morning focusing on how attached we can get to the things of this world. That our church is feeding those in need each week got a mention from the pulpit, which makes me happy because (a) it is nice that people know what we are doing and (b) it will probably boost donations this week.
Making my way through the building to meet my daughter and go home, I got stopped by at least 4 different people with pantry questions and discussions, which is awesome because it means people are involved.
Sunday night the women's ministry hosted a dinner. I wanted to be on hand to thank everyone, answer questions, and take care of the donations. They packed "Stockings for Seniors" using items donated by the youth. We will give these out to about 40 of our senior adults that come through the pantry, many of whom are fairly lonely and isolated. The stockings contained devotionals, lotions, candy, tissues, toothpaste, etc.
The women also held a Thanksgiving food drive, and collected huge amounts of Thanksgiving food. Several ladies helped me shelve stuffing, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, etc. while the other women were filling stockings in another room.
I stayed after about 30 minutes to finish putting items away, but ultimately had to leave some things to work on Monday.
I texted my partner Laura with updates on the donations, so that when she shopped at the Central VA Foodbank on Monday morning she would have a idea of our new inventory.
(As a side note, at least 1 person at that dinner has needed help from the pantry before. I hope I am the only person there who knew that.)
Before bed I responded to an email from a potential new volunteer.
Monday
I work at our church's preschool, which is on the same hallway as our pantry. I feel blessed God gave me this gift so I can do 2 things at once most days.
On the way in to preschool, I dropped off bottled water in the fridge for our volunteers.
I also dropped off milk and food items collected by my neighbor. He volunteers at a local elementary school cafeteria and rescues unused food before it goes into the garbage. The school won't take it back, but I will happily store it, transport it, clean it if needed, and give it away.
I also put an empty egg carton in our cabinet for the next time we get eggs that need to be divided. I note that we really need to get eggs so that we can use up the surplus of cartons we have stashed away.
While I was working at preschool, Laura was shopping at Central VA Foodbank. We have 4 trained shoppers who are allowed to go. This week, 1 had to work (since she went for us last week) and 1 was out of town, which left Laura and I. We both sub for the preschool on Mondays, so shopping for us means taking a day off.
She got many things we needed to fill in the nutritional gaps left even after recent food drive (think protein). She also got soaked unloading the car because it takes awhile to move hundreds of pounds of food. Rainy days do not make for good shopping days.
After preschool, I went to help put things away. I had a momentary panic about where all the food was going to fit. About 90 minutes later, it all had a home. Laura has good spatial relations skills.
While we might have more than what we need in the short term, we know that there won't be such extravagant giving after the holidays, so it is good to have plenty of extra to hold over.
I also packed some bags to deliver to 2 senior adult ladies who are not able to get to us.
One is very concerned about healthy eating. She has heart disease and high blood pressure. She avoids sodium, sugar, and refined white flour when she can, and does not eat red meat. I do the best I can with what we have to get some bags together she will appreciate.
The other is a very picky and poor eater. I don't take her much out of our inventory because it will go to waste. I look for only the things I know she will use that will help stretch her grocery budget.
On my way home, I deliver to the healthy eater.
While I'm in the car, I call the other. She will have to wait until another day because I also need to run some errands for her, and she lives farther away. I tell her to leave me her grocery list on a voicemail, because I will pick up items she pays for herself. I remind her not to get too much, because she is facing eviction and will be moving any time now. That's a long story for another blog post.
The phone was busy. We have a Google voicemail box, so I can check messages on my phone or the computer, but I don't have to give out my phone number.
I talked to one potential new pantry guest, who had questions based on the pantry she used elsewhere before she moved here. I explained how all pantries are different and gave her some tips for using ours.
I also had to call Food Donation Connection this afternoon, who has arranged our food rescue relationships with WaWa and Chipotle. We just started picking up food from Chipotle last week, and they have not been putting things online like they are supposed to, so I had to call to report that.
I called one of the homeless couples I met on Friday for an update. (Homeless in our area often means living in a car.) They are trying to get back home to Vermont. After having met and talked to them a couple of times now, I feel like they are being honest about their situation. I send an email to our missions pastor and local missions liason to see what we can do for them.
I confirm a breakfast meeting with a member of our missions council, and wonder if I should invite the homeless couple to join us. I will wait and see what types of answers might come up before I call them..
Here's what tomorrow is supposed to look like.
8:45- Breakfast meeting with a member of our missions council
10:20 - Pick up food donation from Chipotle
10:40 - Give a mini tour/talk to a 4 year old preschool class (Our preschool has been having a food drive.)
11:00 - Meet with homeless couple to help get them some more food. It is tricky to find foods that work for someone living in a car, so I'd rather they didn't come while we are open to everyone. I want them to have time to look around.
11:30 - Training session with 3 new volunteers
12:00 - Volunteers arrive
12:15 - Pantry is open
sometime between 2-3 (I hope) - Go home. If it isn't too late, I will deliver to our other senior lady, but that is not looking likely. I anticipate about 35 families through the door tomorrow. (When it isn't close to the holidays, we often serve only about 20 families.)
Meanwhile, in the morning we will also have 2 volunteers organizing our Dollar Shop clothing closet, 1 volunteer picking up and delivering bread, and another volunteer setting up our check in and waiting areas. We will have about 7 of us working while the pantry is open.
By the end of the day tomorrow, nearly 30 volunteer hours will have gone into our pantry for the day.
If I'm lucky, I'll have time to do a recap tomorrow evening.
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