Home > Holiday Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.US“Day at the food pantry reveals big needs”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been a long time since I bagged groceries.
Back when I did it for a living, stores used paper bags. Bag boys were taught to build a foundation with cans, then put crushables like bread on top. Nowadays plastic has replaced paper, and the baggers, well, the system they use leaves much to be desired.
My years at Piggly Wiggly came flooding back as I worked a few hours Wednesday in the food pantry at the Norcross Cooperative Ministry. I restocked the shelves and helped fill grocery orders alongside regular volunteers Bill Pooser, J.T. Morris and Bob Reynders.
Some of the clients who received the food were waiting in line before the doors opened at 10 a.m. The agency, like other county charities, is experiencing tight times during an uptick in requests.
The drought dried up the need for landscaping and yard crews. The housing slump hit construction workers. And the general ebb and flow of the economy has been brutal to many.
What’s worse, it’s the holidays.
Director Shirley Cabe was on the phone Wednesday, trying to rustle up more toys for 3,092 kids on the holiday list. The nonprofit has stopped signing up families because it may not meet current demand. Before I started work, Cabe showed me the “toy store,” a part of the basement where toys are stored till “pack night.” That’s when volunteers will pull items - sorted by age and gender - and put them in garbage bags for families to pick up later.
“These toys will be gone with the first 500 or 600 kids,” Cabe predicted. “We try to give three toys per kid, so this will only take care of a small portion of the kids. And we have hardly nothing for girls 7 to 12 years old.”
If anybody knows about poverty, near-poverty and the working poor, it’s Cabe. She’s been with the ministry since its inception nearly two decades ago. (May 2008 marks its 20th anniversary). She’s seen requests grow from about 80 to 100 families a month to a current level of 1,000 plus.
Some of you hold an obdurate view of people who turn to charities. Many, you think, abuse goodwill. Well, clients at the Norcross agency have to prove their claims, and the staff can detect when someone’s trying to get over.
Not that it happens much.
“It’s a small percentage,” Cabe told me. “A very small percentage.”
Because it’s the holiday season, volunteers have flooded the nonprofit, so lack of helping hands is a non-issue. Everything else is, though. Monetary donations. New, unwrapped toys. Food.
“We always need food,” Cabe said.
Food orders are sent to the pantry by computer. They include the family’s name, number of adults and children, and any special requests. The most unusual order during my two hours of volunteering came from a family of nine. They didn’t want pork ‘n’ beans or peanut butter.
“If that’s what they want,” Pooser said, “that’s what we’ll give them.”
Or not give them, in this case.
And we did.
Badie’s challenge
Volunteering for a few hours at the Norcross Cooperative Ministry makes me want to do more, not just for this agency, but other community groups.
What about you?
Are you doing anything to uplift someone, to make this community better? If you are, tell me about it. If not, why not find an organization, or someone, and be an agent for change?
E-mail me at rbadie@ajc.com.
How you can help
The Norcross Cooperative Ministry doesn’t need volunteers, just everything else. Like financial donations, food supplies and toys. Especially toys. The agency, located at 2275 Mitchell Road, has a holiday list that includes more than 3,000 kids. Items that befit 7- to -12 year-old girls are a high priority, as well as gift cards for teens.
Here’s another way to help: Give a book.
Norcross-area schools, in conjunction with Re/Max Suburban Atlanta and Alpha Xi Delta sorority, are collecting new or gently used books through Dec. 20. Moreover, tax-deductible contributions to buy books for families the agency serves are being accepted at www.firstbook.org/norcross.
Donated books can be dropped off at numerous locations, including Kroger in the Centre Stage shopping center; the Publix stores in Peachtree Corners and Spalding Corners; Peachtree, Simpson and Stripling elementary schools; Norcross High; Pinckneyville Middle School; Curves of Norcross and Gwinnett Fire Station No. 4 on Spalding Drive.
For more information visit www.firstbook.org/atlantaalphaxidelta.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: holiday
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Van
December 6, 2007 1:08 PM | Link to this
My wife and I clean cat cages once a week for a local cat rescue and do laundry for them. It feels good to help out and see the cats filter through to good homes. When I read articles like this it puts my own life back in perspective and how fortunate I am . The people that run these places have an amazing amount of patience and passion for their work. I am thankful for them.
By catlady
December 6, 2007 8:29 PM | Link to this
I take food from my garden (now it is turnips, beets, and different kinds of greens) to the community agency for the elderly and to the food bank in my town, and here is what I have noticed: The people waiting for the place to open are all white, overweight, and smoking (under the no smoking sign). I am glad to share with folks in need, but the folks I have seen need to get out, get a job, and quit spending their limited income on cigarettes! They turn up their noses at things that can’t be just heated up.
The elderly folks, however, seem overjoyed, if sometimes mystified, by the things I bring (What are these? Squash. I never saw squash that looks like this. Whaddaya do with them? Cook them like crookneck. These beans don’t look like half-runners! They aren’t, but try them anyway. What kind of squash did you say these are? Etc.) Much more gratifying for me. I like people who seem appreciative.
Not saying it is like this everywhere, just my experience.