The Givers

If you've followed this blog for a while, you know that Thursday morning is my favorite time of the week. That's when I report to the local food pantry where my job is to sit outside where I accept donations from individuals and from organizations,  and I sign in the clients who have come for food. It's been five years now, and some of the clients are people I've known since that very first summer.

What amazes me is how so many people who are down on their luck and patronizing a food pantry still are thinking about making things better for others.

There's Molly* who's been coming for at least five years. I've seen her through a whole slew of complicated medical issues; most recently, she had her first knee replacement. Molly hasn't been coming as frequently of late and I'm hoping that means that things are looking up for her. But her pattern was to come on Thursday, pick up her prepacked bags and go home. The next Thursday she'd return, bringing back any items that were in her bags that she couldn't use. "Let somebody else have them," she'd tell me.

Then there's Stanley* who I haven't known for more than a year or perhaps two. Stan's a family of one, with a formal demeanor and is always nicely dressed. Recently he came to pick up his prepacked bags and delayed a bit coming to my table because he was bringing along a decent-sized box. When he finally got to me, I could see that it was full of red and orange peppers and, truly, the most gorgeous tomatoes ever. "My garden did well this summer," he reported. He wanted to share them with our other clients.

Finally, there's Jim*. Jim's a talker and he uses the come-in-and-shop option rather than the prepacked bags. And since he comes late in the enter-to-shop window, there's usually plenty of time for him to tell me a thing or two. Or three. When he first started coming, about two years ago, he'd say,"I'm off to the nursing home to visit my friend. I'm going to give [one of the snack items from his shopping] to him." Last week as he was leaving, he announced, "Well, I'm off to the nursing home." So I asked him, "Jim, how's your friend doing? You haven't mentioned him in a while." "Oh, he's passed away. And when he died, his roommate said, 'Well, I guess I won't be seeing you any more.' So now I go to visit him."

The Givers. God bless 'em all.

*All names have been changed.